“It’s all part of this pro-industry, anti-regulatory agenda,” said Eric Kleiman, a researcher who has tracked the USDA’s animal care enforcement for the Animal Welfare Institute, an advocacy organization. The agency stopped posting enforcement records in August 2016, replacing them with a numerical summary of activities. In February 2017, it abruptly removed all animal welfare and horse protection records from its website, citing litigation — an apparent reference to a show horse lawsuit. That blackout was assailed by animal protection groups and Congress, as well as some regulated industries and prominent conservatives. “They’re withholding information that would have allowed folks like PETA to step in and help these animals where the agency was failing to do so.”Read more:USDA drops proposal to allow third-party animal welfare inspectionsUSDA abruptly purges animal welfare information from its websiteUSDA removed animal welfare reports from its site.

Source: Washington Post October 18, 2018 15:13 UTC