CARE Act Will Not Improve Care for Animals
By: Vanessa Gagne Date: 09/26/2024 Category: | Animal Legislation |
Earlier this month, congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced the Cold-blooded Animal Research and Exhibition (CARE) Act. The legislation will amend the Animal Welfare Act to cover more animal species, including cold-blooded animals like reptiles, amphibians, fish, and squid.
The introduction of the CARE Act comes amid scrutiny of SeaQuest, a chain of shopping mall aquariums with a location in Roseville, Minnesota. SeaQuest has had numerous problems over the last few years, and has practically gift-wrapped campaign materials for animal rights fundraising groups like PeTA and HSUS. Amid this scrutiny, congresswoman McCollum's office has received complaints from dozens of Minnesotans regarding the conditions at such interactive facilities.
"The Animal Welfare Act provides crucial protections against animal cruelty, but it is limited to warm-blooded species," said Congresswoman McCollum. "We cannot leave cold-blooded animals vulnerable to unsafe and unsanitary conditions. My legislation will give federal inspectors the authority to ensure all animals and the public are kept safe."
The CARE Act would expand the definition of "animal" under the Animal Welfare Act, bringing more species under its protections. This change would allow the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to regulate facilities exhibiting, breeding, or using cold-blooded animals like octopuses, sharks, alligators, and salamanders.
Animals that are kept by humans should receive proper care for their general welfare. There will always be quibbles over the definition of “proper care,” but on a basic level, this is something that everybody can agree upon. However, the name of a bill does not necessarily indicate what the bill will accomplish, and a one-size fits all regulatory approach does not work for the thousands of species of fish, reptile, amphibian, and invertebrate species that would be “cared” for under this bill.
Animal Welfare Act regulations for these species would in many cases undermine the ability for keepers and breeders to provide proper care for their animals, particularly when it comes to disease prevention and treatment, as oversight rules will limit options and delay treatment until certain conditions are met.
Also, this bill will slow research on cures for life-threatening human diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and muscular dystrophy. The onerous requirements will force biomedical researchers who work with common animal models such as zebrafish, axolotls, and clawed frogs to spend significant effort on duplicative record keeping and paperwork, diverting resources away from caring for the animals and conducting lifesaving research. Institutional safeguards already ensure the welfare of such animals. Adding bureaucracy will not make the treatment of animals more humane, but it will hinder work and increase the time and cost of new cures for diseases.
USDA inspectors are not subject matter experts in these animals. Yet in many cases, even small, hobby breeders and educational exhibitors will be subject to intrusive, unwarranted searches and inspections of their homes by federal agents. In many cases, the bill will give anyone, including animal rights groups, access to private records of anyone subject to the regulations.
While adorned in feel-good language, these amendments to the Animal Welfare Act will not improve animal welfare, and for some supporters of this act, improvement is not even the intention. The amendments serve as a backdoor avenue to increase costs for animal keepers and breeders. In addition, they will allow animal rights organizations to gain access to the private records of animal keepers and provide opportunities for politically motivated litigation.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a group that is highly critical of animal exhibitions, and whose agenda would end most human-animal interactions, welcomed the CARE Act, claiming that cold-blooded animals are considered "disposable commodities" that are simply replaced after being neglected to death. This viewpoint surely comes as a shock to the millions of herp and aquatic enthusiasts throughout the United States who love and cherish their animals. Aaron Zellhoefer, Minnesota state director of HSUS praised the CARE Act, stating "Animal Welfare Act regulations would at least provide these wild animals with minimum standards of care.” Note Zellhoefer’s use of the terms “wild animals” and “minimum standards of care.” It sounds far less sensational than the way groups like PeTA frame the issue, but the subtext is clear: we don’t like animal exhibitions, and this is only the beginning.
This article was written with information and insights provided by Art Parola.
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