Ch. 13— Federal Regulation of Animal Use • 283 
ment animals shipped to research facilities for 
purposes of research, testing, or experimenta- 
tion requiring animals not eligible for such 
certification [7 U.S.C.A. 2143(b)]. 
• Minimum Age for Transport. Research fa- 
cilities may receive dogs, cats, and other des- 
ignated animals younger than the minimum 
age requirement for transportation in com- 
merce established by the Secretary pursuant 
to the act [7 U.S.C.A. 2143(c)]. 
• Federal Facilities. Federal agencies with lab- 
oratory-animal facilities are required to com- 
ply with regulations for humane treatment in 
commerce as they apply to nongovernmental 
research facilities [7 U.S.C.A. 2144]. 
• Inspections. Research facilities are required 
to grant inspectors reasonable access to their 
places of business, facilities, animals, and rec- 
ords. Inspectors are empowered to confiscate 
or destroy in a humane manner any animal 
found to be suffering as a result of a failure 
to comply with the act, its regulations, or 
standards, if such animal is held by a research 
facility and is no longer required by such re- 
search facility to carry out the research, test, 
or experiment for which such animal has been 
utilized [7 U.S.C.A. 2146(a)]. Research facilities 
engaged in the purchase, handling, or sale of 
animals are also required to permit inspections 
by legally constituted law enforcement agen- 
cies in search of lost animals [7 U.S .C .A . 2 147]. 
• Penalties, Hearings, and Appeals. For any 
violation of the act, its regulations, or stand- 
ards, a research facility may be assessed a civil 
penalty up to $2,500 for each day of noncom- 
pliance. Knowing failure to obey a cease and 
desist order can result in an additional pen- 
alty of $1,500 for each day of noncompliance. 
Research facilities are not subject to criminal 
penalties for violations [7 U.S.C.A. 2149(b), 
(c),(d)l. 
• Annual Report to Congress. Each March, 
the Secretary of Agriculture is required to re- 
port to Congress the identification of all re- 
search facilities that are required or choose 
to be licensed, the nature of all investigations 
and inspections conducted and reports re- 
ceived, and the Secretary's suggestions for 
legislative changes to improve the administra- 
tion of the act. The annual enforcement report 
cannot be released to non-Federal entities until 
it has been made public by a congressional 
committee [7 U.S.C.A. 2155]. 
Regulations 
Congress intended that the broad statutory frame- 
work it had erected in the Animal Welfare Act be 
fleshed out to achieve the law’s general objectives . 
USDA received common grants of discretionary 
power and ministerial duties, giving the Secretary 
both latitude to exercise judgment in enforcing 
the law and the obligation to execute a number 
of distinct duties. 2 
Responsibility for administration was delegated 
by the Secretary to the Administrator of the Ani- 
mal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). 
Ministerial and enforcement duties are the prov- 
ince of the APHIS Deputy Administrator for Veteri- 
nary Services, and initial collection of records and 
supervision and assignment of inspectors are done 
by Veterinarians-in-Charge, based in APHIS’s State 
offices in each of five geographic regions through- 
out the United States . Except for the Northeast re- 
gion (served centrally by a Boston office), every 
State has an APHIS office, usually in the capital 
[7 CFR 371.2(a), (d); 9 CFR l.l(a)-(j)]. Inspectors 
known as Veterinary Services Representatives per- 
form investigative tasks in consultation with an 
attending veterinarian or with a three -member 
committee employed by a registered research fa- 
cility (one of whom must be a licensed veterinar- 
ian), which is responsible for evaluating the type 
and amount of anesthetic, analgesic, and tranquil- 
izing drugs used on animals during actual research, 
testing, or experimentation where appropriate to 
relieve all unnecessary pain and distress in the sub- 
ject animals [9 CFR l.l(ee)]. 
“Animal” includes “any live or dead dog, cat, 
monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, 
hamster, rabbit, or any other warm-blooded ani- 
mal, which is domesticated or raised in captivity 
or which normally can be found in the wild state, 
2 Pertinent provisions are discussed in this section in the order in 
which they appear in the published regulations, with cross-references 
where appropriate. All parenthetical references are to Title 7, Part 
371, and Title 9, Parts 1-4, of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 
(Washington, DC: General Services Administration. 1984). 
