WELFARE - Wave of Opposition to USDA Removal of Animal Welfare Records from Website

(Meredith Lee, HSUS)

The abrupt abolishment of public records from a federal database puts animals in peril and allows would-be abusers to hide their heinous actions, advocates warn.

The move by the US. Department of Agriculture (USDA,) sees inspection reports purged from its online database – meaning information on the treatment of everything from animals in research labs to circuses, dog breeding operations and zoos is no longer readily available to the public.

The sudden and jarring news is “a shameful attempt to keep the public from knowing when and which laws and regulations have been violated,” Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is quoted as saying in the Washington Post.

“Many federally registered and licenced facilities have long histories of violations that have caused terrible suffering.”

Guillermo also pointed out the database is funded by public tax dollars “and the public should not be kept in the dark because the feds would rather shield abusers than hold them accountable.”

She isn’t alone - numerous outspoken animal-welfare advocates fear removing crucial information such as records of enforcement actions against violators of the Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act, will leave animals unprotected in future.

In the past, the information has been used by everyone from journalists to animal advocates to expose animal abuse and be a watchdog for adherence to government regulations regarding everything from treatment of animals at circuses and in laboratories.

Relying on it has exposed everything from abuse of elephants to dehydration deaths of lab monkeys and horrendous experiments on helpless animals.

Seven states mandate pet stores have a clear USDA record from dog breeders to ensure they are coming from reputable operations.

USDA officials claim the decision was prompted by court rulings and privacy laws and on the heels of “a comprehensive review” over the last year.

Individuals can access information via the Freedom of Information Act Request – a bureaucratic process which can take months or even years for approval.

On the flip side, however, the move is being applauded by some who accused government of being “overly aggressive and influenced by animal protection groups,” the Washington Post reports.

Those supportive of the USDA decision to ditch the public records include businesses like exotic pet breeders who saw the easy access to information and repressive “government oversight” of their operations as unacceptable.

Recently, Mindy Patterson, president of the Cavalry Group penned a scathing column claiming the USDA had “succumbed to the pressure of animal rights extremists” and that public records were relied on by groups like PETA and the Humane Society to malign businesses, at times even sharing information such as addresses and photographs.

While USDA officials defend their position by citing the need to protect privacy concerns – many critics point out information previously online often had identifying information such as names and addresses redacted.

Records made available for decades are now no longer accessible which has opponents saying the move pitches animal abuse into the dark – protecting those who would do harm while essentially leaving animals easy prey.

The documents previously available shed light on cruelty in “substandard roadside zoos, shameful animal circuses, puppy breeding factories and more,” Born Free USA’s Adam Roberts states in National Geographic.

“Often, the animals in these facilities may have visible wounds or cramped conditions or no access to water ... the government’s decision to make it harder to access this information further protects animal exploiters in the shroud of secrecy on which their nefarious activities thrive.”

The Humane Society of the United States has launched legal action against the USDA maintaining the position that the removal of the records violates a 2009 settlement between the two parties.

Other animal rights groups have also filed a joint lawsuit saying the purging of the records impedes their ability to identify violations under the Animal Welfare Act.

These are allegations at this point with the USDA yet to respond to any legal actions taken.

In 2005, the Humane Society successfully sued the USDA over public access to reports of animal use in university and other labs – a case settled years later in exchange for the USDA’s agreement to post certain information online regarding animal research.

The removal of information from the website is a clear violation of the terms of that settlement, the Humane Society says.

About Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

WELFARE - New Regulation Aims to End Horse Soring

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced the final version of a rule that will help protect horses from the practice of soring.

(Soring image and x-ray, USDA)

Soring has been viewed as a controversial practice by people within and outside of the horse world.

The Humane Society of the United States says, “Soring involves the intentional infliction of pain to a horse's legs or hooves in order to force the horse to perform an artificial, exaggerated gait. Caustic chemicals—blistering agents like mustard oil, diesel fuel and kerosene—are applied to the horse's limbs, causing extreme pain and suffering.”

They go on to describe a particularly egregious form of soring, known as pressure shoeing, that involves cutting a horse's hoof almost to the quick and tightly nailing on a shoe, or standing a horse for hours with the sensitive part of his soles on a block or other raised object. This causes pressure and pain whenever the horse puts weight on the hoof.

The final rule, which is part of the Horse Protection Act, will be published soon in the Federal Register and become effective by next January.

It will ban many of the devices used for soring, such as stacked shoes, ankle chains, foreign substances and other “action devices,” and force horse industry inspectors to become trained and licensed through the USDA.

The horse industry is currently responsible for training its own inspectors.

Under the final regulation:

• APHIS will license, train, and oversee independent, third party inspectors, known as Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs), and establish the licensing eligibility requirements to reduce conflicts of interest.
• To allow sufficient time to train and license HPIs and ensure an adequate number before the start of the 2018 show season, current Designated Qualified Person (DQP) licenses will remain valid until January 1, 2018.  Beginning January 1, 2018, management of horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions that elect to use inspection services, must appoint and retain a HPI to inspect horses.
• Beginning January 1, 2018, the regulatory provisions applicable to Horse Industry Organization and Associations are removed and are no longer effective.
• Beginning 30 days after the publication of the final rule, all action devices, except for certain boots, are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction.  All pads and wedges are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction on or after January 1, 2018, unless such horse has been prescribed and is receiving therapeutic, veterinary treatment using pads or wedges.  This delayed implementation allows ample time to both gradually reduce the size of pads to minimize any potential physiological stress to the horses and prepare horses to compete in other classes.
• Beginning January 1, 2018, management of HPA-covered events must, among other things, submit certain information records to APHIS, provide HPIs with access, space, and facilities to conduct inspections, and have a farrier physically present to assist HPIs at horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions that allow Tennessee Walking Horses or racking horses to participate in therapeutic pads and wedges if more than 150 horses are entered, and have a farrier on call if 150 or fewer horses are entered.

“Horse soring is a stain on Tennessee’s reputation, and (Friday’s) move by the USDA begins to wipe that stain away,” Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle said in a statement.

“Hurting horses so severely for mere entertainment is disgraceful, and I put this abuse in the same category as dogfighting or cockfighting - practices that betray our humanity and that cannot stand the light of day.”

Not everyone is on board with the new legislation, however.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) believes the new rules are overreaching, stating in a release, “I am in favor of wiping out the contemptible and illegal practice of horse soring, not wiping out the century old tradition of showing Tennessee Walking Horses as this rule could do.”

“I would hope the new Secretary of Agriculture will not concur with this overreaching rule announced during the last few days of the Obama administration and instead will work with Congress to enact legislation that punishes trainers, owners and riders who abuse horses while preserving the opportunity for law abiding horse enthusiasts to participate in competitions that are the basis of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.”

Mike Inman, president of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, said he plans to challenge the regulatory action. The Celebration is the largest Tennessee walking horse show in the nation.