A labratory primate alone in a barren cage Photo credit: awi
On this day in 1966, the Animal Welfare Act was passed in order to regulate animal activities by requiring that practitioners be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. It came about after an article in Life magazine in February 1966 detailing one dealer’s severe brutality against his own dogs. Among those regulated practices covered in this act, there are: cat/dog breeding, resellers of dogs & cats who purchase animals from breeders and sell them to pet stores, displaying animals (including circuses), and research labs that use certain live animals for experiments. No animals used for food, lab rats & mice, cold blooded vertebrates, or invertebrates are covered under the act. The Animal Fighting Prohibition Act was also included in 2007 which prohibits certain animal fighting activities and increased penalties for violators. Michael Vick is very familiar with that!
Although this act provides the basis for federal legislation against animal cruelty, it does not protect animals from individual cases of beating, neglect, and torture. These horrendous acts are regulated by states and not the federal government. If you are interested in seeing things change, please contact your local representatives and let them know how you feel about the issue.
