Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 1/26/15

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has told the Agricultural Research Service to update the Animal Welfare Strategy in place for animal research facilities, and to do so in the next 60 days, according to report by Reuters.

The agency has not made an official statement to that effect; Reuters' report said its reporters had reviewed an internal email from Chavonda Jacobs-Young, head of ARS, sent to all of the department's employees Friday afternoon. ARS spokespeople did not respond over the weekend to confirm the report or to provide additional information.

Reuters reports that any new plan will have to include update training and an independent panel to review animal handling protocols, policies and research practices. The email also reportedly said that Eileen Thacker, a veterinarian and program leader at ARS, as the first animal welfare ombudsman for the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, an ARS facility in Clay Center, Neb.

The research center was the subject of a report in the New York Times last week that was critical of the treatment of many of the animals that are part of the research underway there.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.