New APHIS-USDA Policy

[dturm]

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

[dturm]

The Department of Agriculture has started to repost some animal welfare data previously deleted from its website, after two weeks of public outcry over the removal.

On Friday, USDA APHIS restored some records to the site. Specifically, they posted what they referred to as the "first batch" of annual reports and inspection records from USDA-registered research facilities. Their statement also said they would "continue to review records and determine which information is appropriate for reposting."

[dturm]

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