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Abusive dog dealers escape USDA penalties, says animal group
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sued the agency in federal court in Washington on Friday, arguing that dealers who flout the Animal Welfare Act have gone unpunished.
Dog dealers are violating an animal welfare law without being penalized by the US Department of Agriculture, an animal rights group claimed in a lawsuit.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sued the agency in federal court in Washington on Friday, arguing that dealers who flout the Animal Welfare Act have gone unpunished. The ASPCA alleges that the Agriculture Department has adopted “education and cooperation” efforts as a substitute for enforcement. The USDA refers to dealers as those who breed dogs or act as brokers in their sale or transport.
The department has “imposed no statutory penalties against a dog dealer since 2017” despite evidence that more than 1,000 violations take place each year, the ASPCA says in the suit. In one case, a licensed dealer avoided punishment despite keeping dogs in housing with wire flooring that hurt some of them so badly they were unable to stand, the group says.
It sued the Agriculture Department under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that its embrace of education initiatives in lieu of concrete penalties violates federal law. The agency’s inaction “has enabled licensed dog dealers to commit horrible abuses without any repercussions,” the ASPCA claims.
The USDA referred a request for comment on the suit to its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is also named as a defendant. A spokesman for the service said he wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.
The case is American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 21-cv-01600, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
