This audit report was sent to me recently. It supports my concern that there is very little consistency when it comes to inspecting licensed exhibitors.
When someone tells me "so and so" sanctuary does not have any write-ups on file with the USDA/APHIS, I now reply that he or she should not use APHIS' inspection reports as a barometer in determining quality sanctuaries. Based on my experience for the last 4.5 years, I have come to see the USDA/APHIS inspection reports as a joke.
Discrepancy items filed this year against the WAO should have also been filed in past inspection reports. But, for whatever reason, the discrepancy items were left off the official reports. Go figure.
The same concerns I presented to the USDA years ago are now being identified in the inspection reports today. Why did it take so long for the USDA to finally do its job? Where is the consistency? The USDA, like several other governmental agencies, were laxed in pursuing the WAO case. Now look at the result -- what a disaster.
Later: http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/articles-usdainsp.html
Later: http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/articles-usdainsp.html
USDA Inspector Files Whistleblower Complaint with OSC
Years later:
Will PETA Sue the USDA for Removing On-line Inspection Reports?
Here is the latest PETA fundraiser email I received today (2.8.17):
Dear K.M.,
Fact: In a secretive laboratory, a monkey dies screaming in agony after her cage is put in a high-temperature washing machine while she's still in it. Fact: An improperly stunned pig shrieks as she's scalded to death in a slaughterhouse. Fact: At a roadside zoo, a bear paces endlessly back and forth in a concrete pit, stopping only long enough to whimper and beg for a scrap of food. Fact: These are the types of blatant cruelty that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—responsible for enforcing federal animal-protection laws and regulations in our country—is now shielding from public view. On Friday, with little warning, the USDA scrubbed its website of critical information that PETA relies on to expose abuse. The reason seems clear: The agency wants to guard itself and animal exploiters against our scrutiny. As champions of animal rights, we cannot let the USDA hide what every citizen has a right to know. We're preparing a legal challenge right now. Please, make an emergency gift to PETA this very moment and help us stand strong and fight for all animals, large and small. As numerous PETA eyewitness investigations have proved, we cannot trust the USDA to enforce laws and regulations that protect animals. Documents such as inspection reports and annual reports of facilities that exploit animals must be available to PETA and the public so that everyone can see if the agency is doing its job—and call it out when it's not. The USDA says that the documents purged from its website can now only be accessed through Freedom of Information Act requests, which can take years to be approved and can result in partially or entirely blacked-out documents. That means many, many animals could suffer and die out of the public eye while caring people wait for information that can help stop their misery. At this critical moment, our lawyers are working to push back against this outrageous denial of transparency—and we need our supporters to be staunchly in our camp. Make an urgently needed tax-deductable gift to PETA today—animals' lives depend on it! Thank you for your support—we'll keep you updated as the situation develops. ********************************************* End**********************************************************************
Okay, first off, where
was PETA during the WAO investigation when I brought up the subject of false
USDA reports filed on-line?
Oh, yeah, there was no
money in it for them so they turned their backs on hundreds of captive exotic
animals.
Gotta love PETA tho --
capitalizing on this latest animal travesty to fill its coffers! Classic
PETA. All about the $$$.
I honestly do not
understand why people are going gaga over this latest turn of events involving
the USDA. Their reports are
horrible and are barely worth the paper they are printed on! They are inaccurate, so they
hold very little value in my opinion.
Plus, if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know that the USDA refused to
accept the word of a person reporting AWA crimes. If the inspector didn't see it, then according to the USDA, it
didn't happen. So, according to their standards,
if the inspector did not report AWA violations in its reports, well then you
guessed it...no violation ever occurred-- it just didn't happen. What a joke.
The entire inspection
process is flawed and should be revamped from top to bottom. REAL inspectors, not swayed by politics,
should conduct the inspections. REAL and
accurate reports should be filed for public viewing. Then, and only then, will animal rescuers
will know the truth about a particular shelter, sanctuary, or laboratory.
So until that happens, the USDA probably
shouldn't bother filling out their inaccurate reports and posting them on-line anyway -- they're just full of cr*p.
Just my humble opinion.
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