Photo Courtesy of Sen. Schumer’s Office
Schumer said that, under the Trump administration, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture is hiding critical information that helps prevent animal cruelty and tracks “puppy mills.”
By Forum Staff
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reverse its decision to remove inspection reports on animal facilities and related animal cruelty information from its website. The USDA, Schumer noted, annually inspects approximately 9,000 licensed facilities, including dog- and cat-breeding facilities, laboratories and more. Over the past decade, the agency has provided the public with information on compliant and non-compliant licensees by posting inspection reports on its website. The Senate minority leader and his colleagues wrote to Acting Deputy Secretary of the USDA Michael Young and asked that public access to animal welfare records be restored immediately.
“When it comes to protecting animals and potential pets, the Trump administration’s USDA has just dropped the ball by doing away with access to information that safeguards vulnerable animals and outs abusive puppy mills,” Schumer said. “Until now, pet owners, animal welfare advocates and others have relied on the USDA’s data to expose the evils of puppy mills and other inhumane treatment, but now this information is hidden, and that’s bad news for animals and the advocates who protect them. Public access to inhumane animal treatment at puppy mills, research labs, circuses, zoos and more is paramount to prevention, but suddenly, the USDA, under the new administration, has chosen to erase these online records from the public eye. The USDA’s decision to sweep this information under the rug and suspend its longstanding tradition of transparency means animal abuse could go unnoticed. I’m calling on the USDA to reverse its decision and continue to post animal welfare records online.”
Under the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, according to Schumer, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspects licensed facilities like commercial dog and cat breeding facilities, laboratories, zoos, circuses, airlines, Tennessee walking horse shows, and other for-profit animal businesses. For more than 10 years the USDA has posted its inspection reports and other related information on its website, however, recently the USDA removed this online database. The USDA’s animal welfare database has been known to provide the public with data otherwise hidden about animal exploitation. These records have helped bring justice to any animals that may have been abused, Schumer noted.
“Public access to information can guide consumer decision making and plays an important role in deterring regulated entities from violating the law,” the senator wrote in the missive to Young.
