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Key Terms

  • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) - APHIS is a program within the USDA that is responsible for protecting animal and plant health by enforcing relevant laws, including the AWA.

  • Animal Facilities Inspection (AFI) program - the state program responsible for licensing, inspecting, and regulating small animal facilities required to be licensed by the KPAA. AFI enforces the KPAA and is led by the AFI Program Director.

  • Animal Welfare Act (AWA) - The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was signed into law on August 24, 1966. It is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers. The Act is enforced by USDA, APHIS, and Animal Care.

  • Division of Animal Health - the division of the KDA under which the AFI program is housed. It is led by the Animal Health Commissioner.

  • Kansas Administrative Regulations (KAR) - the list of regulations authorized by statute that have the scope of law. The AFI program has several regulations that carry out the goals of the program as expressed by the legislature through statute.

  • Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) - the cabinet-level state agency responsible for Kansas’s agriculture activities.

  • Kansas Open Records ACT (KORA) - KORA is the law that requires Kansas public bodies to make certain information accessible to the public. Some information may be redacted and agencies may charge a nominal fee, but the law is to be broadly interpreted.

  • Kansas Pet Animal Act (KPAA) - the statute establishing the AFI program, creating license categories, and authorizing the promulgation of rules and regulations.

  • Kansas Statutes Annotated (KSA) - the list of statutes passed by the legislature. The KPAA is K.S.A. 47-1701 et. seq.

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - the federal agency responsible for regulating agricultural activities throughout the country, including international imports and exports.

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