Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/14/17


A group of animal activist organizations has sued USDA and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) over the recent removal of thousands of documents related to animal welfare enforcement, demanding that the pages be re-posted and that future documentation not be withheld, according to court papers.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Born Free USA, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Beagle Freedom Project and Delcianna J. Winders, an animal law and policy fellow at Harvard University.

“These records — inspection reports, research facility annual reports, regulatory correspondence, enforcement records, and lists of entities licensed under the Animal Welfare Act … are heavily relied on by Plaintiffs as well as other animal protection groups, research advocacy organizations, reporters, state and local governments, and others to monitor and keep the public informed about the USDA’s implementation and enforcement (and lack thereof) of the AWA,” the lawsuit notes.

Many of the removed documents reported are available on a website operated by Russ Kick, an Arizona-based government transparency activist, according to Politico’s daily ag newsletter. Those documents are being made available by animal welfare advocates from their files.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and 18 other Democrats in the Senate have sent a letter to acting USDA Deputy Secretary Mike Young, “seeking more information on why the APHIS reports were removed and asking for them to be quickly reposted,” Politico reported. “Responding to USDA's earlier statement that its actions were in response to an earlier lawsuit, the lawmakers want to know which lawsuit spurred the action; who was involved with the decision; and why officials think releasing the documents under Freedom of Information Act requests is the best way to provide access to the information.”

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