A Word from USDA

The Animal Welfare Act’s (AWA) definition of “animal” excludes livestock used or intended for use as food or fiber, or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency¹. The AWA regulations define “farm animal” to include pigs and sheep². Here, the college is using the animals to train students in basic agricultural techniques such as hoof trimming and castration. The use of these animals in this manner excludes them from the definition of “animal” and AWA regulatory requirements for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversight because the activities ultimately support the purposes of improving livestock nutrition, breeding, management/ production and use as food/fiber. Although there are no applicable AWA regulatory requirements, the USDA supports the position that livestock used for educational purposes should be provided humane care.