USDA Animal Care Realigns Its Structure to Improve Its Effectiveness
Wednesday, October 1, 2014

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Beginning Oct. 1, 2014, we at USDA Animal Care will realign our structure so we can more efficiently uphold and enforce the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act. We are consolidating our administrative support, enhancing our accountability, improving our processes, and modernizing our operations. 
 
Over the years, we have grown as an organization, but we have not always adapted our organizational structure to tackle our new responsibilities or meet our stakeholders’ growing expectations of us. This functional realignment creates a modern, flexible organization that will enable us to more easily grow and adapt to future changes. Our realignment also supports recommendations made by USDA’s Office of Inspector General after it conducted four audits of our organization.
 
The new USDA Animal Care organizational structure is composed of four main business units: Field Operations; The Collaboratory; Resource Management; and Information Technology. You can view a diagram of the new structure and find additional information at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal-welfare/realignment.
 
Some things will remain as they are now. For example, our realignment will not change how our inspectors conduct inspections of regulated facilities, and the process remains the same for concerned citizens who want to file an animal welfare complaint. Also, we encourage you to continue to communicate with the same USDA Animal Care employees as you have in the past.
 
If we plan to refine any procedures that might impact you, our stakeholders, we will communicate with you well in advance of any changes.
 
We hope that you will view our realignment as we do – as a way for us to increase our consistency and efficiency and thereby enhance our ability to protect the welfare of the animals regulated under the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
 
Chester Gipson
Deputy Administrator

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