Post by nenya on Feb 28, 2017 20:20:17 GMT
Rooney Mara rips USDA for scrubbing animal facility reports
Actress Rooney Mara penned a letter to the US Department of Agriculture this week, slamming the agency for scrubbing government inspection reports on thousands of animal facilities from its website.
“We are told to trust your agency to monitor the welfare of animals, but how does it look when you deceptively remove information that we are privy to as taxpayers and as consumers who care deeply about animal welfare? Really, really bad,” the star wrote in a letter, obtained by The Post, that was addressed to Kevin Shea, the federal administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
“Without public inspection records, The Humane Society of the United States and other animal protection groups will have great difficulty obtaining the information they need to press for strong enforcement. And enforcement is badly needed.”
In early February, the USDA removed online information about thousands of facilities – including laboratories, zoos, puppy mills and horse breeders. The data included records about people or companies who have violated the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
Mara pointed to one Iowa breeder who allegedly threw a bag of dead puppies at a USDA inspector, and another who threatened to stab an inspector with a syringe after being cited for fatally shooting one of his dogs.
“The USDA oversees 9,000 commercial animal enterprises. You have restored inspection reports for a tiny fraction of these facilities, continuing to deprive the public of information regarding compliance with federal animal protection laws,” she wrote.
“Your purge of records indicates you are not on the animals’ side as you are hired by taxpayers to be. Rather, it seems like you’re covering up the appalling misdeeds of puppy mills, zoos, research facilities, and those who abuse horses.”
The USDA has said its removal of the inspection reports was part of a “comprehensive review” that was set in motion about a year ago. The data includes records about people or companies who have violated the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
“We are told to trust your agency to monitor the welfare of animals, but how does it look when you deceptively remove information that we are privy to as taxpayers and as consumers who care deeply about animal welfare? Really, really bad,” the star wrote in a letter, obtained by The Post, that was addressed to Kevin Shea, the federal administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
“Without public inspection records, The Humane Society of the United States and other animal protection groups will have great difficulty obtaining the information they need to press for strong enforcement. And enforcement is badly needed.”
In early February, the USDA removed online information about thousands of facilities – including laboratories, zoos, puppy mills and horse breeders. The data included records about people or companies who have violated the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
Mara pointed to one Iowa breeder who allegedly threw a bag of dead puppies at a USDA inspector, and another who threatened to stab an inspector with a syringe after being cited for fatally shooting one of his dogs.
“The USDA oversees 9,000 commercial animal enterprises. You have restored inspection reports for a tiny fraction of these facilities, continuing to deprive the public of information regarding compliance with federal animal protection laws,” she wrote.
“Your purge of records indicates you are not on the animals’ side as you are hired by taxpayers to be. Rather, it seems like you’re covering up the appalling misdeeds of puppy mills, zoos, research facilities, and those who abuse horses.”
The USDA has said its removal of the inspection reports was part of a “comprehensive review” that was set in motion about a year ago. The data includes records about people or companies who have violated the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
