Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 2/6/17


USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has removed certain personal information from documents it posts on its website involving the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Horse Protection Act (HPA).

For the past decade, APHIS has shared information on its website concerning its administration of the AWA and the HPA, including inspection reports, research facility annual reports, and lists of persons licensed and registered under the AWA, as well as lists of persons licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations and associations to inspect horses for compliance with the HPA. More recently, APHIS also began posting AWA and HPA regulatory correspondence and enforcement-related information to its website for the general public to view.

APHIS, during the past year, conducted a comprehensive review of the information it posts on its website for the general public to view. As a result, going forward, APHIS will remove from its website inspection reports, regulatory correspondence, research facility annual reports, and enforcement records that have not received final adjudication. APHIS will also review and redact, as necessary, the lists of licensees and registrants under the AWA, as well as lists of designated qualified persons (DQPs) licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations.

In an explanation of the action on its website, APHIS indicated that continuous monitoring of court rulings and guidance regarding the Privacy Act played a part in the decision, which it made with the support of the Office of the General Counsel.
Those seeking information from APHIS regarding inspection reports, regulatory correspondence, and enforcement records should now submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for that information.

Animal activist groups have in the past used these records to monitor government regulation of animal treatment.  
"These documents are essential to a wide range of matters of direct interest to The Humane Society of the United States, dozens of other animal welfare groups, state and federal lawmakers and regulators, regulated businesses, and many other stakeholders who rely upon the records of a public agency," Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle wrote in a blog on the HSUS website. 

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s surprise, abrupt removal of all inspection reports and information about laboratories, circuses, roadside zoos, and other facilities that confine animals and use them for their own gain is a shameful attempt to keep the public from knowing when and which laws and regulations have been violated,” said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo, in a statement on PETA’s website.  

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