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USDA/APHIS is seeking comments regarding a petition to amend Animal Welfare Act regulations to prohibit public contact with big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates. The full text of the notice is posted below; please note that the comment deadline has been extended to November 15, 2013.
All comments must be submitted by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0107-0001.
-or-
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS–2012–0107, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.
Text of Federal Register Notice:
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47215-47217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18874]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 2 and 3
[Docket No. APHIS-2012-0107]
Petition to Amend Animal Welfare Act Regulations To Prohibit
Public Contact With Big Cats, Bears, and Nonhuman Primates
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are notifying the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has received a petition requesting amendments to the
Animal Welfare Act regulations and standards, including to prohibit
licensees from allowing individuals, with certain exceptions, from
coming into direct or physical contact with big cats, bears, or
nonhuman primates of any age, to define the term ``sufficient
distance,'' and to prohibit the public handling of young or immature
big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates and the separation of such
animals from their dams before the species-typical age of weaning
absent medical necessity. We are making this petition available to the
public and soliciting comments regarding the petition and any
additional issues we should take into account as we consider this
petition.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
October 4, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0107-0001.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2012-0107, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-
0107 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Barbara Kohn, DVM, Senior Staff
Officer, USDA, APHIS, Animal Care, 4700 River Road Unit 84, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1234; (301) 851-3751.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA, 7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) authorizes the
Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate standards and other requirements
governing the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of
certain animals by dealers, research facilities, exhibitors, operators
of auction sales, and carriers and intermediate handlers. The Secretary
has delegated the responsibility for enforcing the AWA to the
Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS). Within APHIS, the responsibility for administering the AWA has
been delegated to the Deputy Administrator for Animal Care. Regulations
and standards established under the AWA are contained in 9 CFR parts 1,
2, and 3. Part 1 contains definitions for terms used in parts 2 and 3;
part 2 contains licensing and registration regulations, regulations
specific to research facilities, and regulations governing veterinary
care, animal identification, recordkeeping, access for inspection,
confiscation of animals, and handling among other requirements; and
part 3 contains specific standards for the humane handling, care,
treatment, and transportation of categories of animals covered under
the AWA. Currently, part 3 consists of subparts A through F, which
contain specific standards for dogs and cats, guinea pigs and hamsters,
rabbits, nonhuman primates, marine mammals, and general standards for
warmblooded animals not otherwise specified in previous subparts,
respectively.
Within part 2, Sec. 2.131 generally contains provisions for
licensee qualifications, training, careful handling, rest periods,
attendants, climatic conditions, and public exhibition. Paragraph
(b)(1) requires that all animals be handled in a manner that prevents
trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort to
them. Paragraph (c)(1) places conditions on the public exhibition of
animals. It requires that during public exhibition, all animals must be
handled with sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animal and
the public so as to ensure the safety of the animals and the public.
Paragraphs (c)(2), (c)(3), and (c)(4) require that performing animals
be given rest periods, that young or immature animals cannot be exposed
to rough or excessive public handling or exhibited for periods of time
that would be inconsistent with their health and well-being, and that
drugs, such as tranquilizers, cannot be used to facilitate public
handling of any animals. Paragraph (d) requires that animals be
exhibited only for periods of time and under conditions consistent with
their health and well-being, that responsible, knowledgeable, and
identifiable employees or attendants be present at all times during
public contact with animals, and specifically requires that dangerous
animals such as lions, tigers, wolves, bears, or elephants, be under
the direct control and supervision of an experienced handler during
public exhibition.
APHIS has received a petition \1\ requesting that we amend the
regulations in part 2 to explicitly prohibit licensees from allowing
persons, with some exceptions, from coming into direct physical contact
with any big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates of any age. The
petition states that the current handling regulations in 9 CFR part 2
allow licensees the opportunity to engage in animal exhibition
practices via public contact venues, such as interactive sessions and
photographic opportunities, and that these activities place these
animals at risk of harm, threaten public safety, undermine conservation
efforts, and encourage irresponsible breeding. The petitioners contend
that the existing handling regulations are difficult to enforce,
subjective, and inconsistently applied. The petitioners propose
specific regulatory language that would, if incorporated into the
regulations, amend Sec. 2.131 to eliminate the possibility of direct
physical contact with big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates by any
individual, other than trained licensee employees, licensed
veterinarians, and veterinary students under the supervision of a
licensed veterinarian; define ``sufficient distance'' under paragraph
(c)(1) of Sec. 2.131; and prevent the separation of young or immature
big cats, bears, or nonhuman primates from their dams before the
species-typical age of weaning unless medically necessary. The
petitioners also suggest revisions to 9 CFR part 3 to ensure that the
sections containing specific standards for the handling of nonhuman
primates are consistent with the regulatory changes they propose in
Sec. 2.131.
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\1\ Petitioners include the Humane Society of the United States,
World Wildlife Fund, The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries,
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, The Fund
for Animals, Big Cat Rescue, and the Detroit Zoological Society.
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We are making this petition available to the public and soliciting
comments to help determine what action, if any, we should take in
response to this request. The petition and any comments submitted are
available for review as indicated under ADDRESSES above. We welcome all
comments on the issues outlined in the petition and the supporting
declarations. In addition, we invite responses to the following
questions:
Are there circumstances under which public contact with
young big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates
[[Page 47217]]
may be done without risk of harm to the animals or to the public?
Should exhibitors and dealers be required to keep
additional records (beyond those already required) regarding big cats,
bears, and nonhuman primates? If so, what kinds of information should
be required to be kept?
Should exhibitors and dealers be required to identify big
cats, bears, and nonhuman primates by means of tattoos, microchips,
retinal scans, or the like?
We encourage the submission of scientific data, studies, or
research to support your comments and position, including scientific
data or research that supports any industry or professional standards
that pertain to the humane treatment of big cats, bears, and nonhuman
primates. We also invite data on the costs and benefits associated with
any recommendations. We will consider all comments and recommendations
we receive.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2131-2159; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.7.
Done in Washington, DC, this 31st day of July 2013.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-18874 Filed 8-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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