Who Oversees Animal Welfare?
Animal welfare is generally overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Currently, that department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service enforces the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The AWA does protect certain animals from inhumane treatment, but it doesn’t apply to animals farmed for food. Animal welfare groups push for minimum standards to protect the welfare of animals while they’re raised, transported and slaughtered. (Some, of course, also oppose the slaughter of animals for consumption.) And they have the backing of the American public. According to a 2003 Gallup poll, 62 percent of Americans favor strict laws to protect farm animals. In a Zogby poll taken the same year, 82 percent of the respondents said that there should be laws protecting farm animals from cruelty. And in a survey conducted by researchers at Ohio State University in 2005, 92 percent of those surveyed believed that farm animals should be well cared for. The good news is that there is high demand for human
