On 27 June 2005, APHIS announced its intention to request an extension of approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of an information collection in support of its Animal Welfare Act regulations for the humane treatment and handling of guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits1.

The reporting and record keeping requirements of 9 CFR part 3, subparts B, include regulations intended to ensure the humane treatment of guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits during transportation. APHIS is asking OMB to approve the continued use of its current information collection activity for an additional 3 years.

APHIS' current regulations require that guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits be shipped in containers that comply with the regulations, and that are labeled with the words 'Live Animals' and arrows indicating the correct positioning of the container. Intermediate handlers and carriers can only accept shipping containers that meet these requirements unless they are accompanied by documentation indicating that the enclosure is acceptable. Intermediate handlers and carriers must also attempt to contact the recipient at least once every six hours and must document said attempts. In addition, animals shipped in temperatures below 45 °F (7.2 °C) must be accompanied by a certificate signed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian indicated that the animal is acclimated to such conditions.

APHIS is trying to determine if these information collections are necessary for the proper functioning of APHIS; determine the accuracy and validity of the methods and assumptions for collecting this information; and minimize the burden of collecting this information.