Feds take inspection data offl ine
A searchable database containing thousands of animal-welfare records has been removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, sparking a national outcry.
The decision on Feb. 3
means that the public can no longer immediately access free inspection reports from more than 9,000 zoos, research laboratories, dog breeders, circuses and other federally regulated entities. That includes data from more than 400 facilities in Ohio.
On Friday, the agency restored a small number of reports related to research facilities. Its original search tool remained deactivated, and several years worth of data was still missing.
To protect privacy and personal information, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says all other documents now must be obtained through federal Freedom of Information Act requests. Critics say those can take months or even years to process, often at a cost to the requester.
Animal-welfare advocates are concerned that the lack of transparency will put vulnerable animals at risk and leave abuse unchecked.
Some in Ohio fear a ripple effect at the state level.
“Denying the public access to information they are entitled to as taxpayers and consumers is a huge step backwards,” said Teresa Landon, executive director of the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mary O’Connor-Shaver, treasurer of Ohio Voters for Companion Animals, called the move a “kneejerk reaction” to lawsuits filed by violators of the federal Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act. A compromise should have been considered before seven years’ worth of records were removed, she said.
“We’ll continue to campaign until we see a reversal,” she said.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a Harvard University animal law expert and several other animal-welfare groups filed a lawsuit last week against the USDA, alleging a violation of the Freedom of Information Act.
On Tuesday, 101 U.S. House members from both parties sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to restore the online documents. The list includes Rep. David Joyce, R-Russell Township, who represents Ohio’s 14th District just east of Cleveland.
The day before, USDA acting Deputy Secretary Michael Young received a similar letter from 18 senators.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a national nonprofit organization representing the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and more than 200 facilities, issued a statement on Feb. 6 on behalf of its members opposing the removal of the information. It says the USDA decision makes it impossible to distinguish law-abiding facilities from “poorly run breeding farms and roadside zoos and menageries.”
“Accredited aquariums and zoos pride themselves in not only adhering to, but also in exceeding, the Animal Welfare Act and its regulations,” association president and CEO Dan Ashe said. “This trust and confidence is eroded by efforts that are seemingly intended to shield information from public view.”
In addition to routine inspections and violations, the scrubbed records also include major investigations such as animal escapes and the May 2016 shooting death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Another concern of activists is the potential impact the decision could have on state laws that were passed under the assumption that inspection records would be available online, said Rescue Me Ohio co-founders Stephanie Gonzalez and Christine Shepard-Desai. That includes Ohio Senate Bill 331, often called the “Petland bill,” which was signed into law in December; it overturned local ordinances, including one in Grove City, that restricted how pet stores acquire the dogs they sell.
Ohio Voters For Companion Animals hopes to work with state legislators and amend the bill, O’ConnorShaver said.
Chillicothe-based Petland, a national pet-store chain, issued a statement on Feb. 6 about the USDA’s decision, saying the agency has put an unnecessary burden on responsible pet stores, which used the records to evaluate dog breeders.
A statement on the USDA’s website, on a page where the data once was, says the decision — made “in 2016, well before the change of administration” — is not final, and a review of the website is ongoing to “determine which information is appropriate for reposting.”