House advances bill to set penalties for violating animal welfare act

A House subcommittee voted 6-4 Thursday to advance a bill that would establish restrictions and penalties for animal testing facilities in Virginia that have received citations for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.

HB 2348, introduced by Del. Michael J. Webert, R-Rappahannock, also would require animal testing facilities to register annually with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and report citations received for violations of the Animal Welfare Act or regulations adopted by the department.

The bill comes months after the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Virginia, was found in violation of dozens of federal regulations. As a result of the violations, a federal judge approved a plan to rescue around 4,000 beagles from the facility.

“The goal of the legislation [is] we’re trying to prevent what we had to deal with last year,” Webert said during the subcommittee meeting, referring to the Envigo facility. “[The bill] was a step after taking numerous meetings to make [the issue] public so that… at least folks would be aware.”

By having this information publicly accessible, the bill would help ensure facilities receive  consequences for citations they accumulate. These consequences could include fines between $3,000 to $10,000, removal of state funding for research and a complete ban of a facility’s ability to use animals in its experiments.

The Animal Welfare Act, passed in 1966, “regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Facilities as defined by the bill, means “any facility, including a private entity, state agency, or institution of higher education, that confines and uses animals for research, education, testing, or other experimental, scientific, or medical purposes.”

All four Democrats in the subcommittee voted for the advancement of the bill while four of the six Republicans voted against it.

One of the members who opposed the bill was Del. Matthew C. Fariss, R-Albemarle. His main concern was how the bill will affect universities in Virginia by requiring additional oversight.

“These agricultural institutions are not money-makers for these universities,” Fariss said during the subcommittee meeting. “I just feel like we are trying to put things on them that truly [aren’t] doing what we intend to do.”

Another dissenter was Del. Chris Runion, R-Augusta. Runion said he had heard stories where research facilities were given violations by the USDA for minute infractions that were unrelated to animal testing.

“I had one research organization tell me that they were faulted by USDA inspection because they had a panel participant that could not participate because they had COVID,” Runion said. “Another one had chipped paint.”

The bill will be advanced with substitution to the Committee on Appropriations, which has its next meeting scheduled for Jan. 27.