New APHIS-USDA Policy
On February 3, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) removed thousands of documents pertaining to its enforcement of animal welfare laws from its website. No longer available to the general public, the deleted information includes several years worth of annual inspection reports and agency correspondence that document the mistreatment, abuse and/or death of animals at research facilities, zoos, puppy mills, equestrian exhibitions and other locations.
This new policy is being challenged in court, but your input to your representatives would be helpful in reversing this policy.
Simply put information that used to be easily looked up on a website about cases of animal abuse (puppy mills, businesses, zoos, research facilities) are only available after a "freedom of information" request.
I'm going to post this, then close it because this WILL devolve into a political argument.
Being that we all value our pets and most are involved in rescue and animal welfare, WE NEED TO BE INFORMED,
Doug, DVM - an accredited USDA-APHIS veterinarian
