Animal Welfare Act Guidelines for County and State Fairs
"The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires people who exhibit animals to the public for compensation to
be licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The AWA also excludes certain activities from this requirement, including the exhibition of agricultural animals for the purposes of promoting agricultural arts, sciences, and production. This means that agricultural exhibits at State and county fairs are exempt. However, some exhibition activities found at State and county fairs do require the exhibitors to be licensed under the AWA..."