Extending Animal Welfare Act to Rats, Mice, and Birds Would Improve Research Oversight
“One significant change that could be made to the Animal Welfare Act is to extend its coverage to all species used in research, especially rats, mice, and birds. These animals are used in 90% or more of U.S. research labs but are not covered under the AWA's current definition of "animal." Such exclusion means that facilities using these species are not subject to the same federal standards for housing, handling or reporting. Updating the definition would close a major vulnerability in the law and ensure that most animals used in research have basic protections. The effect of this change would be severe. If rats, mice and birds were covered by the AWA, research facilities would have to meet federal standards for humane care, be inspected and report the numbers of animals they use. That would increase accountability and improve welfare as facilities would be held accountable for proper housing, veterinary care and handling. It would also give the public a better understanding of how animals are treated in research, which could help build trust in scientific institutions. To make the change official, the Animal Welfare Act would have to be amended by changing the legal definition of “animal”. The amendment should clarify that the protections of the Act extend to rats of the genus Rattus, mice of the genus Mus species, and birds domesticated for research. It should also require USDA to create species-specific standards of care, because these animals have different needs than dogs, cats, or mammals. Requiring reporting and regular inspections of facilities that use these species would help to make enforcement consistent and effective. There should be changes like this because the current Animal Welfare Act no longer matches today’s scientific practices or society’s expectations for how animals should be treated. When the law was passed in 1966, rats and mice were not commonly used in research, but now they are the most frequently used laboratory animals. Excluding them from protection creates a clear gap in federal animal welfare policy. Updating the Act would make it more consistent, humane, and better aligned with modern scientific and ethical standards.”
Summary
The Animal Welfare Act presently excludes rats, mice, and birds used in research, which together comprise roughly 90 % of laboratory animals in the United States. Expanding the Act’s definition to include these species would indeed require a congressional amendment and would subject facilities to USDA‑mandated housing standards, inspections, and animal‑use reporting. Recent legislation has actually reinforced their exclusion, indicating the proposed change has not yet been enacted. The claim that such a change would markedly increase accountability is consistent with how the law operates, though the description of the impact as “severe” reflects an opinion rather than a verifiable fact.
Sources 97 searched
- Animal Welfare Act | National Agricultural Library - USDA
The definition of terms are found ... teaching, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes, or as a pet. This term excludes birds, rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus, bred for use in research; horses...
- The Animal Welfare Act: Background and Selected Issues | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
In practice, the AWA has never covered rats, mice, or birds used in research. In 1970, Congress expanded the scope of AWA (P.L. 91-579) to include all warm-blooded animals determined by USDA to be used for experimentation or exhibition, except ...
- Rats, Mice, and Birds to be Included in the Animal Welfare ...
ensure that all of the animals covered by the expanded · definition of animals in the AWA receive humane care ... Q. What challenges is USDA expecting from ... A. USDA anticipates that incorporating covered rats ... Q. How can I help? A. The best way to help is to stay informed on the ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination · in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national
- Patterns of Animal Use - Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research - NCBI Bookshelf
The Office of Technology Assessment (1986) has estimated that the total federal use of animals in 1983 was 1.6 million, with about 90 percent of these animals being rats and mice. The number of animals used in education is unknown, but most observers think that it is relatively small.
- Regulation of Animal Research - Science, Medicine, and Animals - NCBI Bookshelf
In passing the AWA, Congress left ... because the USDA has not had the resources to inspect all of these facilities. Despite numerous efforts by the animal protection community to change the AWA to include rats, mice, and birds, an amendment was recently passed by Congress to permanently exclude rats, mice, and birds used in research from coverage by the Animal Welfare Act...
- Commonly Used Animal Models - PMC
Photo used with permission of American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. Summary of the Various Categories of Mouse Types That Are Available for Use in Research ... Mice and rats make up approximately 95% of all laboratory animals, with mice the most commonly used animal in biomedical ...
- Federal Register :: Animal Welfare; Regulations and Standards for Birds, Rats, and Mice
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171, signed into law on May 13, 2002), included provisions that amended the definition of animal in the AWA (7 U.S.C. 2132(g)) by specifically excluding birds, rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus, bred for use in research. While the definition of animal in the regulations has excluded rats of the genus Rattus and mice of the genus Mus bred for use in research, that definition has also excluded all birds ( i.e., not just those birds bred for use in research).
- Tierschutzrechtliche Regelungen auf EU-Ebene und ...
Mitgliedstaaten insbesondere in Bezug auf religiöse Riten, kulturelle Traditionen und das regionale Erbe.“, · Richtlinie 98/58/EG des Rates vom 20. Juli 1998 über den Schutz landwirtschaftlicher Nutztiere, https://eur- · Richtlinie 2007/43/EG des Rates vom 28.
- Chapitre IV : La protection des animaux. (Articles L214-1 à L214-23) - Légifrance
Modifié par LOI n°2021-1539 du 30 novembre 2021 - art. 8 · I.-La gestion d'une fourrière ou d'un refuge, ainsi que l'exercice à titre commercial des activités de transit ou de garde, d'éducation, de dressage et de présentation au public de chiens et de chats : ... 2° Sont subordonnés ...
- Arrêté du 19 juin 2025 fixant les règles sanitaires et de protection animale auxquelles doivent satisfaire les activités liées aux animaux de compagnie d'espèces domestiques - Légifrance
Arrêté du 19 juin 2025 fixant les règles sanitaires et de protection animale auxquelles doivent ...
- How many mice and rats are used in U.S. labs? Controversial study says more than 100 million | Science | AAAS
Now, for the first time, someone ... used annually in U.S. biomedical research, according to a new study. That represents more than 99% of all lab animals....
- The injustice of excluding laboratory rats, mice, and birds from the Animal Welfare Act - PubMed
A major shortcoming of the Animal Welfare Act is its exclusion of the species most-used in experimentation -- rats, mice, and birds. Considerations of justice dictate that extension of the law to these three species is the morally right thing to do.
- Bundesgesetzblatt Teil 2, Nr. 37
Tabelle A.2. Ratten: Mindestabmessungen und Platzangebot
- Tierschutz-Bußgeldkatalog 2026: Gesetze, Tierrechte etc.
Wer sich gegen den Tierschutz wendet, muss mit einer Freiheits- oder Geldstrafe rechnen · Im Jahr 2009 verwendeten Forscher etwa 917.000 Tiere zu Versuchszwecken. Den Großteil hiervon bildeten Mäuse mit einem Anteil von zirka 83 Prozent.
- Les 50 ans du Animal Welfare Act of 1966
En 1985, le bien-être psychologique de l’animal a été pris en compte en limitant sa réutilisation dans des protocoles expérimentaux. La modification de la loi en 1990 fut en faveur de la protection des chats et des chiens en tant qu’animaux de compagnie. En 2002, la définition de l’animal fut modifiée en ajoutant les oiseaux, rats et souris qui étaient jusqu’alors exclues.
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