Editor,
Do you have any idea what goes on in puppy mills? Owners make huge sums of money off the caging of female dogs and keeping them pregnant their entire lives. Most lack adequate food, water, and veterinary care. The dogs are too often left blind or with myriad other serious illnesses. There is corruption not unlike mafia style tactics – puppy mill owners donate money and projects to the community in exchange for their casting a blind eye to puppy mill atrocities. Now, the USDA has joined in in this nasty trade by denying access to the reports generated by the USDA documenting the outcome of their inspections of commercial dog breeders. For years the reports have been accessible to the public on their website.
These are the reports that alert us to all the problems in these facilities. They show us that 45-65% of breeders are cited for violations to the Animal Welfare Act each year. They show us that licensees keep 200, 500, as many as 1,500 adult dogs. Without access to these reports we have no way of knowing any of that information or to what conditions adult breeding dogs and their puppies are subjected in the commercial dog breeding industry.
A few weeks ago the USDA made the astonishing decision to no longer make these inspection reports public, leaving the public in the dark as a result. The USDA says one can still have access by making a Freedom of Information Act request but those typically take more than one year to obtain.
I urge you to help us convince the USDA that they need to reverse this taxpayer-funded inspection information decision and make the reports available online again. Contact your lawmakers and tell them the public deserves and needs access to this USDA taxpayer-funded inspection information. Online inspection reports are important tools to work to ensure the health and safety of animals in commercial breeding facilities.
J. Freeman, Ph.D.