USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has reached a milestone. 50 years of service!
The agency administrator says that one big accomplishment has been keeping foot and mouth disease out of the U.S. for nearly a century, but there are a number of other achievements too.
“We deal with conflicts with wildlife and people-- things like coyotes going after sheep. We also enforce the Animal Welfare Act, so we try to get more humane treatment for animals who are bred to be pets and for those who are used in exhibition research,” Administrator Kevin Shea states.
APHIS is also credited with the eradication or near eradication of the cotton boll weevil and the European grapevine moth.
The inspection service was established on April 2, 1972, under President Richard Nixon.
Related:
How Beagles are helping USDA APHIS Strengthen Bio-Security
APHIS: Stopping Smuggled Meats Crucial to Halting Spread of African Swine Fever