This page attempts to answer frequently searched-for phrases which are not otherwise on the Animal Care web site. If you still have questions, please call 301-734-7833 or email at ace@aphis.usda.gov.

Sugar Gliders:

Sugar gliders are the number one searched-for topic. They are covered under the Animal Welfare Act as exotic animals as defined under Part 1.1 of Animal Care's Regulations. Therefore, anyone dealing, breeding, exhibiting, transporting, or researching one or more of these animals may be subject to the Animal Welfare Act. To determine if you should be licensed or registered please contact the Regional Office for your area. For a phone number and/or address of the office, please go to our organization page.

A note of caution: Sugar Gliders require special care and diet. If you are thinking about one for a pet, please educate yourself on their requirements first. I found lot of information on sugar gliders, including pictures, diet and health information, and chat boards, simply by typing "sugar glider" in any of the major www search engines.

Cold Blooded Species:

Animals such as snakes, lizards, fish, salamanders, etc. are not covered under the Animals Welfare Act.

Horse Protection:

Our jurisdiction over horse protection is through the Horse Protection Act and is limited to the cruel practice of "soring" a horse so the the gait will be accentuated. This practice used to be common in such breeds as the "Tennessee Walking Horse." For more information, please to to our Horse Protection Page.

Institution Assurance:

An "Assurance" is a written, binding commitment an institution submits to a federal agency promising to comply with human subjects or research animal regulations, and stating procedures for achieving compliance. These are required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research (OER) prior to granting public funding. For more information and to see a sample of an Animal Welfare Assurance, please refer to the website of the NIH-OER-Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm, and look under "Sample documents for Implementation of PHS Policy".

If NIH-OER-OLAW has reason to believe a research facility receiving public funding is not complying with their Assurance, the funding may be suspended or revoked. This authority is found in the Health Research Extension Act of 1985, available on the web at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/hrea1985.htm

USDA’s Animal Care (AC) Unit does not grant funding for research, nor do we require such Assurance documents. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires annual inspections of research facilities. If, as a result of these inspections, we have reason to believe a facility is not in compliance with the AWA, its regulations or standards, we may consider enforcement action. Such action could consist of monetary fines and/or cease-and-desist orders.

The AWA also requires research facilities to report annually that professionally acceptable standards governing the care, treatment and use of animals are being followed by the research facility prior to, during and following actual research or experimentation. This information is incorporated into four assurance statements on the APHIS Form 7023 (http://oacu.od.nih.gov/ARAC/7023.pdf) "Annual Report of Research Facility". The legally responsible Institutional Official for the research facility certifies these statements are true and correct when signing the report.