"We are not aware of any previous agency data purge of this scope," says ASPCA. (Photo: iStock)
Feb 13, 2017
Leading animal rights groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday over the removal of animal welfare records from its website early this month.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by PETA, Beagle Freedom Project, Born Free USA, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, along with public health advocacy group the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Harvard animal law and policy fellow Delcianna Winders, demands the reinstatement of the records, which included thousands of inspection reports, research facility reports, and violations at zoos, research laboratories, and commercial breeders.
"The government should not be in the business of hiding animal abusers and lawbreakers from public scrutiny," Winders said in a statement.
The USDA took down the records on February 3, citing privacy concerns. The agency said those seeking the information would henceforth be required to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Humane Society of the United States said at the time: "This action benefits no one, except facilities who have harmed animals and don't want anyone to know."
As The Dodonoted:
The recently disappeared reports include information about SeaWorld, dog breeders, and puppy mills, zoos, circuses (including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) and taxpayer-funded animal testing labs, among others.
[...] "We've been the USDA's watchdog for 20 years," Deborah Howard, president of the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS), told The Dodo recently, explaining that CAPS investigators use the USDA reports to show which pet shops are sourcing their dogs from puppy mills. "We compare our findings to the inspectors. If we didn't have those reports, we wouldn't be able to do our inspections."
The removal came amidst reports of other federal agencies scrubbing critical data and research from their websites under the Trump administration.
Indeed, Deborah Dubow Press of the ASPCA toldTeen Vogue, "It happened just two weeks after President Trump took office. It's a very detrimental and disappointing action out of the gate from our new president. It does not leave us very hopeful."
Press told the outlet: "We are not aware of any previous agency data purge of this scope."
As such, the decision received significant public scrutiny and was the subject of a social media campaign under the hashtags #AnimalWelfare and #NoUSDABlackout.
\u201cACTION: Tweet a photo of your pets to your elected officials & tell them to fight the USDA #AnimalWelfare info blackout! (1/3) Instructions:\u201d— The People's Department of Food and Well-Being (@The People's Department of Food and Well-Being) 1486575742
\u201cWhiskey who was rescued from the kill pens says Retweet after me tell @USDA to restore #AnimalWelfare reports! @altusda #NoUSDAblackout\u201d— katie straka (@katie straka) 1486728474
Join Us: Everything is on the Line
The future of all that we cherish is on the line and we have to fight like hell to protect democracy, human decency, and a liveable planet. The last line of defense is people who understand what’s at stake—activists, writers, thinkers, doers, and everyday people who see what is happening, know in their hearts that a better world is possible, and are willing to fight for it. You are one of the good people Common Dreams was built for. We provide independent news, progressive opinion, and crucial analysis on the day’s most important issues. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. But to keep publishing and remain strong in these dangerous times, we need your support. So we’re asking you today: Will you donate to our Fall Campaign and keep the progressive, nonprofit journalism of Common Dreams alive? |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Leading animal rights groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday over the removal of animal welfare records from its website early this month.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by PETA, Beagle Freedom Project, Born Free USA, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, along with public health advocacy group the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Harvard animal law and policy fellow Delcianna Winders, demands the reinstatement of the records, which included thousands of inspection reports, research facility reports, and violations at zoos, research laboratories, and commercial breeders.
"The government should not be in the business of hiding animal abusers and lawbreakers from public scrutiny," Winders said in a statement.
The USDA took down the records on February 3, citing privacy concerns. The agency said those seeking the information would henceforth be required to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Humane Society of the United States said at the time: "This action benefits no one, except facilities who have harmed animals and don't want anyone to know."
As The Dodonoted:
The recently disappeared reports include information about SeaWorld, dog breeders, and puppy mills, zoos, circuses (including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) and taxpayer-funded animal testing labs, among others.
[...] "We've been the USDA's watchdog for 20 years," Deborah Howard, president of the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS), told The Dodo recently, explaining that CAPS investigators use the USDA reports to show which pet shops are sourcing their dogs from puppy mills. "We compare our findings to the inspectors. If we didn't have those reports, we wouldn't be able to do our inspections."
The removal came amidst reports of other federal agencies scrubbing critical data and research from their websites under the Trump administration.
Indeed, Deborah Dubow Press of the ASPCA toldTeen Vogue, "It happened just two weeks after President Trump took office. It's a very detrimental and disappointing action out of the gate from our new president. It does not leave us very hopeful."
Press told the outlet: "We are not aware of any previous agency data purge of this scope."
As such, the decision received significant public scrutiny and was the subject of a social media campaign under the hashtags #AnimalWelfare and #NoUSDABlackout.
\u201cACTION: Tweet a photo of your pets to your elected officials & tell them to fight the USDA #AnimalWelfare info blackout! (1/3) Instructions:\u201d— The People's Department of Food and Well-Being (@The People's Department of Food and Well-Being) 1486575742
\u201cWhiskey who was rescued from the kill pens says Retweet after me tell @USDA to restore #AnimalWelfare reports! @altusda #NoUSDAblackout\u201d— katie straka (@katie straka) 1486728474
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Leading animal rights groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday over the removal of animal welfare records from its website early this month.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by PETA, Beagle Freedom Project, Born Free USA, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, along with public health advocacy group the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Harvard animal law and policy fellow Delcianna Winders, demands the reinstatement of the records, which included thousands of inspection reports, research facility reports, and violations at zoos, research laboratories, and commercial breeders.
"The government should not be in the business of hiding animal abusers and lawbreakers from public scrutiny," Winders said in a statement.
The USDA took down the records on February 3, citing privacy concerns. The agency said those seeking the information would henceforth be required to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Humane Society of the United States said at the time: "This action benefits no one, except facilities who have harmed animals and don't want anyone to know."
As The Dodonoted:
The recently disappeared reports include information about SeaWorld, dog breeders, and puppy mills, zoos, circuses (including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) and taxpayer-funded animal testing labs, among others.
[...] "We've been the USDA's watchdog for 20 years," Deborah Howard, president of the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS), told The Dodo recently, explaining that CAPS investigators use the USDA reports to show which pet shops are sourcing their dogs from puppy mills. "We compare our findings to the inspectors. If we didn't have those reports, we wouldn't be able to do our inspections."
The removal came amidst reports of other federal agencies scrubbing critical data and research from their websites under the Trump administration.
Indeed, Deborah Dubow Press of the ASPCA toldTeen Vogue, "It happened just two weeks after President Trump took office. It's a very detrimental and disappointing action out of the gate from our new president. It does not leave us very hopeful."
Press told the outlet: "We are not aware of any previous agency data purge of this scope."
As such, the decision received significant public scrutiny and was the subject of a social media campaign under the hashtags #AnimalWelfare and #NoUSDABlackout.
\u201cACTION: Tweet a photo of your pets to your elected officials & tell them to fight the USDA #AnimalWelfare info blackout! (1/3) Instructions:\u201d— The People's Department of Food and Well-Being (@The People's Department of Food and Well-Being) 1486575742
\u201cWhiskey who was rescued from the kill pens says Retweet after me tell @USDA to restore #AnimalWelfare reports! @altusda #NoUSDAblackout\u201d— katie straka (@katie straka) 1486728474
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.