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December 19, 2012
USDA Announces Recent Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act Enforcement Actions
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2012--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is continuing to move more swiftly and consistently to take enforcement action in response to animal welfare violations. As part of its effort to make its actions transparent and accessible to the public, APHIS is highlighting enforcement actions taken in response to violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and Horse Protection Act (HPA).Copies of documents related to these actions, as well as copies of official warnings, are available in the APHIS FOIA Reading Room at www.aphis.usda.gov/foia/foia_reading_room.shtml.
During the month of November, APHIS filed administrative complaints alleging that the following persons violated the AWA or HPA:
AWA Docket No. 12-0294; Sidney Yost d/b/a Jungle Exotics; Amazing Animal Productions, Inc. [Note: This is a case from March 2012 that was inadvertently omitted from that month’s release.]
HPA Docket No. 13-0080; Justin Jenne d/b/a Justin Jenne Stables; David Mullis; Rebecca Mullis; Darrell Frazier d/b/a Frazier and Frazier Farms.
The following persons entered into pre-litigation settlement agreements (also known as stipulations) in connection with alleged violations of the AWA or HPA:
APHIS Case No. OK10004-AC and OK10030-AC; Little River Zoo, Inc.
APHIS Case No. OK09018-AC; Robert Lourance and Darlene Lourance.
USDA's administrative law judges and judicial officer issued decisions and orders under the AWA or HPA involving the following persons:
HPA Docket No. 11-0305; Regina Fritsch.
HPA Docket No. 11-0305; Thomas Vest.
The AWA requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for certain animals bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially or exhibited to the public. It excludes those animals raised for food or fiber. Persons who operate facilities in these categories must provide their animals with adequate care and treatment in the areas of housing, handling, sanitation, nutrition, water, veterinary care and protection from extreme weather and temperatures.
To ensure that its licensees are meeting the AWA standards, APHIS inspectors conduct routine, unannounced inspections of all licensed facilities. Violations of the AWA can lead to penalties, including official warnings, civil penalties and license suspensions/revocations. For more information on the inspection and enforcement processes, visit APHIS’ animal care website at www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/.
The HPA is the federal law that prohibits horses subjected to a practice called soring from participating in shows, sales, exhibitions and auctions. Soring is a cruel and abusive practice used to accentuate a horse’s gait. APHIS works actively with the horse industry to protect against such abuse, ensuring that only sound and healthy horses participate in shows, sales, exhibitions and auctions. APHIS’ ultimate goal is to end the inhumane practice of soring completely.
The HPA authorizes APHIS to issue civil penalties and to disqualify violators from participating in horse shows, exhibitions and sales. Both the AWA and HPA contain criminal penalties as well.
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http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2012/12/awa_dec.shtml
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Posted by sball at 12:48 PM
December 17, 2012
@USDA_APHIS Need to report an Animal Welfare Act #AWA licensee?
Find out who to contact here http://go.usa.gov/g3wRPosted by sball at 1:38 PM
@USDA_APHIS Want to know more about the #APHIS role in biotech?
Here’s the link! http://go.usa.gov/gNVHPosted by sball at 1:37 PM
@USDA_APHIS Check out this #APHIS brochure to see how Saving Pets Saves Lives in an emergency!
http://go.usa.gov/ggCTPosted by sball at 1:34 PM
Summary Now Available: International Workshop on Alternative Methods for Leptospira Vaccine Potency Testing
A summary is now available of the September 2012 "International Workshop on Alternative Methods for Leptospira Vaccine Potency Testing: State of the Science and the Way Forward.” This workshop brought together international scientific experts from government, industry, and academia to review available methods and approaches for Leptospira vaccine potency testing and recent advances in science and technology.Participants discussed how to achieve wider use of in vitro replacement methods for Leptospira vaccine potency testing that have been developed by the USDA’s Center for Veterinary Biologics. Workshop participants also identified steps that should be taken to reduce animal use and to avoid or minimize animal pain and distress where animal use is still required for Leptospira vaccine potency testing.This included investigation of serological methods, which use fewer animals and reduce or eliminate animal pain and distress compared to traditional methods.
The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Veterinary Biologics at the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa. The National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) organized the workshop in collaboration with the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and partner organizations in the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods.
The workshop summary is available on the ICCVAM website at: http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/meetings/LeptoVaccWksp-2012/LeptoVaccWksp.htm The final workshop program and a link to slides presented at the workshop are also available on this page. A report of the workshop will be published in 2013 in the journal Biologicals.
Posted by sball at 12:08 PM
December 13, 2012
Claudia’s Canine Cuisine Voluntarily Recalls --
It’s Dogcandy Brand of Holiday Hound Cake (7.5 Oz.) and Blueberry Hound Cake (7.5 Oz) Manufactured for, Distributed, and Sold in Approximately 130 Petsmart Stores Because of The Possibility of Mold – http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm332004.htmPosted by sball at 8:08 AM