USDA Proposes New Animal Welfare Act Rule
Dealers, intermediate handlers, carriers, exhibitors and research facilities will need to devise detailed plans for coping with natural disasters and other emergencies if a new rule recently proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is approved.
Currently, the only contingency planning required covers facilities housing marine animals, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington). The proposed rulemaking to amend the Animal Welfare Act would include all licensees and registrants, and would require them to prepare contingency plans that:
- Identify situations the facility might experience that would trigger the need for a contingency plan, including emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC systems, fires and animal escapes, as well as natural disasters.
- Outline specific tasks required to be carried out in response to the identified emergencies, including such things as animal evacuation, providing backup sources of food and water, and so on.
- Identify a chain a command and personnel to be responsible for fulfilling these tasks.
- Address the materials, resources and training needed to accomplish response and recovery.
Contingency plans would have to be in place 180 days after the final rule becomes effective.
APHIS is accepting public comment until Dec. 22, 2008. [January 2009 PET AGE]
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