The HSUS

Help animals in roadside zoos, puppy mills and labs!

The Animal Welfare Act is meant to protect over a million animals housed in roadside zoos, puppy mills and research facilities, and yet repeat offenders who continue to violate basic standards of animal care receive little to no consequences. As a result, countless animals are suffering needlessly. Many of these are serious violations, including failing to seek veterinary treatment for animals who are visibly emaciated, sick, injured, or unable to walk.

With only three administrative law judges to handle enforcement actions for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the unfortunate reality is that many of these violators continue to operate in part because USDA is simply not bringing these cases up for review. This continuous suffering is unacceptable, and these animals deserve faster intervention.

The Better Collaboration, Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement (CARE) for Animals Act can fill this gap by giving the Department of Justice the tools to collaborate more effectively with USDA to enforce the AWA. This includes USDA sharing information with DOJ regarding violators and enabling DOJ to bring cases seeking license revocation, civil penalties and the seizure of suffering animals. By allowing the DOJ to step in earlier, it can save the lives of animals and relieve their suffering before it is too late.

TAKE ACTION

Please take a moment to call your two U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative. You can find their contact information here. You can say, “As your constituent, I urge you to cosponsor the Better CARE for Animals Act, which will strengthen AWA enforcement. We must do more to end the unnecessary suffering of animals and act to save their lives before it is too late.”

After making your phone call, fill in and submit the form to automatically send a brief follow-up message.

This action alert is for U.S. residents. International advocates, please visit Humane Society International.

Your Message

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Dear Legislator,

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to cosponsor the Better Collaboration, Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement (CARE) for Animals Act, which will strengthen the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by giving the Department of Justice (DOJ) the tools to collaborate more effectively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enforce the AWA when the regulated community are violating the most basic rules of humane care. 

The AWA requires research facilities, exhibitors, puppy mills and other breeders/dealers to meet basic standards of animal care. This law is crucial to protecting over a million animals from inhumane care and treatment, yet many facilities are getting away with egregious abuses. 

Currently, there are only three administrative law judges for the entire USDA. As a result, only so many enforcement actions can go through the system each year, which is a contributing factor to why so many AWA violators go unpunished. However, Congress included a provision in the AWA that allows DOJ to bring cases in federal court.  

But as it stands, DOJ enforcement power only goes so far because they can only ask the court to issue injunctions to prevent current unlawful mistreatment of animals. The Better CARE for Animals Act would require a memorandum of understanding between the USDA and DOJ to encourage greater collaboration and ensure DOJ has access to evidence on AWA violators. It would also provide DOJ with more enforcement remedies under the AWA by authorizing them to seek license revocations, civil penalties and the seizure and removal of mistreated animals.  
  
In May of 2022, DOJ filed a lawsuit detailing shocking AWA violations at a breeding facility owned by a company called Envigo. Government inspectors found, among many violations, that beagles there were being killed instead of receiving veterinary treatment for easily treatable conditions and that over an eight-week period, 25 beagle puppies died from cold exposure. Ultimately, Envigo entered a settlement agreement leading to the transfer of roughly 4,000 beagles to animal adoption organizations, but it should never have taken so long to save these dogs, as USDA inspectors had documented numerous violations at the facility in 2021 and 2022. 

The Better CARE for Animals Act will give DOJ the tools to better enforce the AWA and hopefully step in earlier at facilities with documented violations of the AWA, like Envigo, in order to save the lives of suffering animals before it is too late. I hope you will support this important bill.

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