The National Chicken Council submitted comments this week to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) addressing a petition by the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) to amend the Animal Welfare Act Regulations requirements for research facilities.
The Animal Welfare Act covers the treatment of animals in research, and mandates annual reporting on the types of animals used, procedures performed, and animal care at research facilities. The goal of the petition submitted by NAVS is as follows:
To increase the scope of information collected from research facilities registered under the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.
- To change the format of the reporting system maintained by APHIS, the Animal Care Information System (ACIS).
- To decrease the number and need of animals used in research.
NCC’s comments contend that the current reporting and inspection requirements for research facilities are sufficient, and that the role of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) at those facilities ensures that the use of animals is minimal and any experimental procedures that may inflict discomfort receive heavy scrutiny prior to approval. In addition, NCC suggested that sufficient control mechanisms are in place through annual reporting and inspection by APHIS, and that further paperwork and reporting would not tangibly impact animal well-being.
NCC strongly supports the humane handling and treatment of poultry and all other animals used in the course of impactful scientific research. Though scientific research has resulted in progress that allows for the decreased use of animals as models, there remains some need for the responsible use of animals in order to carry out important and ground-breaking research that benefits both humans and animals on a large scale.
