USDA Gives Itself a Failing Grade in Puppy Mill Enforcement

A few months ago, the feds released a fairly damning report, which detailed several ways the U.S. Department of Agriculture has dropped the ball on enforcing the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Now, the USDA is in hot water again, this time over puppy mills.

An internal audit (pdf) by the USDA's Inspector General's office found serious problems with the USDA department responsible for keeping breeders in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act.

All in all, it's a pretty sorry situation. At a time when puppy mills are finally receiving at least a small amount of mainstream attention, the folks in charge of punishing animal abusers prefer namby-pamby "cooperation" over punishment, and when they have to punish, they usually go for the lightest possible penalty.

Among the findings:

• The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Animal Care Division (the folks who are actually supposed to inspect dog breeders) "was ineffective in achieving dealer compliance with AWA and regulations."
• The Animal Care Division "chose to take little or no enforcement action against most violators," instead choosing to take the less-punitive route of "education and cooperation."
• Inspectors "did not correctly report all repeat or direct violations (those that are generally more serious and affect the animals’ health). In addition, some inspectors did not always adequately describe violations in their inspection reports or support violations with photos."
• What about the puppy mill cases where the inspectors actually bothered to report and document abuse? Not such good news there either. Apparently, "the agency continued to assess minimal penalties that did not deter violators."
• And speaking of not deterring violators, "Typically, AC does not take enforcement action against first-time violators, even if the inspector identifies a direct violation (i.e., one that has a high potential for adversely affecting the health of an animal)."

Let's talk about the response from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. As was the case with the report on livestock inspections in February, he claims that it didn't happen on his watch. He's correct, by the way; this report covers the time period stretching from October of 2005 through September of 2008.

In short, it wasn't his fault but it's his problem now. The question is, will Vilsack actually change anything? He's committed to "reinforce [USDA's] efforts under its animal welfare responsibilities, including tougher penalties for repeat offenders and greater consistent action to strongly enforce the law."

Vilsack can talk the talk. He's got legions of bright young governmental PR people to help him do that. But actually cleaning up USDA's reprehensible record on animal welfare is going to take more than rhetoric and hand-wringing.

Twice this year, Vilsack's department has been called out in public for lax enforcement of some very important laws. Twice this year, he's eaten his humble pie and pledged reform. He's right in pointing out that he didn't cause these problems, but it's time to stop talking and start fixing.

Some members of Congress get that, which is why Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and David Vitter (R-LA) are introducing the PUPS (Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety) Act, which updates and strengthens parts of the Animal Welfare Act. You can do your part as well, by calling on your Senators to support the PUPS Act. The Animal Law Coalition has a good summary of the proposed bill here.

Photo credit: marioanima