Animal Welfare Act Violations
For the first time USDA/APHIS has made information
available regarding national statistics regarding violations of the
Animal Welfare Act by research facilities.
1106 total violations were discussed from research
facilities. These violations affected a total of 16,340 animals. Most
salient among these violations were the 286 separate violations for
inadequate veterinary care. This indicates that about 1 out of every 4
laboratories was cited for inadequate veterinary care. The table below
lists these violations.
Summary of Animal Welfare Act Violations in
Laboratories for 2002
| Violation Category |
Number of Violations |
Number of Animals Effected |
| Registration |
21 |
22 |
| Institutional Animal Care & Use
Committee |
635 |
3,075 |
| Personnel Qualifications |
63 |
301 |
| Attending Veterinarian and Adequate
Veterinary Care |
286 |
12,222 |
| Record Keeping Requirements |
33 |
660 |
| Annual Report |
13 |
60 |
| Miscellaneous |
55 |
2,507 |
| Totals |
1,106 |
16,340 |
The USDA information contained tens of thousands of
other violations in areas such as primary enclosures, indoor and outdoor
facilities, etc. However, it was not possible to separate the violations
in these areas for research facilities from those for dealers,
exhibitors, etc. It is also significant to note that there were 227
separate instances of violations for the requirements for providing
environmental enhancement for primates. Many of these violations took
place in research facilities.
Due to the nature of the USDA data, it is not possible
to give totals for all violations that took place within U.S.
laboratories. However, it is safe to conclude that the violations total
listed above would be substantially increased if this were possible. It
is also safe to conclude that all is NOT well within U.S. laboratories.
