Our view: Killing kittens, and the ‘Horrible Hundred’ breeders
With all the suffering in the world, it’s easy to argue that there are more important things to worry about than the welfare of animals. But a society can be judged by the way it treats these innocent creatures, and ending mistreatment is so much easier than curing the world’s other ills that it’s shameful not to do so.
Lots of human beings, it seems, haven’t gotten the message. Recently revealed abuses range from stomachturning conditions at commercial dog breeders to killings of scores of research kittens by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Just since 2013, more than 220 kittens have been purposely infected with toxoplasmosis — an infection that can harm pregnant women and their fetuses — at a USDA research lab in Maryland. The kittens are briefly used for research and then euthanized. The USDA says the kittens could pose a risk to adoptive families. But the parasite can be treated with antibiotics, and the animals could be tested and readied for rescue. Instead, kittens are killed.
Animals at other USDA research sites around the country have been neglected, some left to die. Fifteen ducks died after “multiple days without access to water,” according to inspection reports disclosed last week by The Washington Post. Quail chicks succumbed to excessive temperatures in their room. Pigs, lambs and cows were seen with visible wounds and injuries untreated by a vet.
Your tax dollars at work.
In the private sector, too many puppies are still raised in deplorable conditions by breeders who fail to meet even the USDA’s minimal standards.
Last week, the Humane Society of the United States released its annual “Horrible Hundred” list of breeders and dealers culled from inspection reports, court cases and news accounts. It found neglected dogs and puppies, some lying on their backs, panting, in a sweltering kennel, or with paws falling through wire flooring or with maggots crawling in their food.
Until last year, animal lovers could identify offending breeders on a USDA inspection site, but the agency has blocked most names, citing breeders’ “privacy interests.”
Several states have tightened laws beyond what the USDA requires to ensure that breeders don’t mistreat dogs and puppies. These laws — and others that prohibit dreadfully cramped housing for egg-laying hens, pregnant pigs and veal calves — are threatened by a measure long championed by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who hails from the nation’s top egg-producing state.
King’s measure could pre-empt more than 3,000 state laws — some passed directly by voters seeking humane treatment even for farm animals — as well as laws affecting everything from food safety to invasive pests.
Threatened animals got a reprieve last week when the House rejected a massive farm bill that included King’s measure. But the bill, and the measure, are likely to be revived. Even in this polarized era, Americans of both parties ought to be able to get together to protect defenseless animals.