CWI Makes Progress with the USDA!

12/14/22

In January 2021, CWI proposed a joint project to Animal Legal Defense Fund that would better enable us to track animal deaths associated with USDA animal exhibitor licensees. While we did not achieve everything we'd hoped for, we are happy to announce that some forward progress was made. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the division of the USDA responsible for enforcing the federal Animal Welfare Act, agreed with our petition that their present system for information collection from their licensees left too much leeway for licensees to avoid reporting on certain animal deaths. Because of our petition, APHIS will be revising the information collection form and providing an instructional message to all licensees to ensure they follow correct protocol in the future. This advancement will better enable CWI, ALDF, and other animal advocacy organizations to obtain more accurate information regarding animal deaths. CWI will continue to pursue more stringent, timely, and complete record keeping requirements from animal exhibitors with the USDA, as well as enhanced public ability to acquire that information.