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Earlier this week (February 18), the US Department of Agriculture replaced on its website the animal welfare records that the agency had removed in early 2017 and added records that had been generated since, as ordered by Congress, The Washington Post reports. These documents, unredacted and searchable, include thousands of reports from unannounced inspections at research labs as well as zoos, circuses, dog breeders, and other facilities.
When the records were removed, animal welfare groups, which use these reports to identify and publicize the mistreatment of animals, had criticized the USDA’s decision. The agency had claimed it was made as a result of concern for individuals’ privacy, though it did not specify the personal information it was concerned about. The records would be made available through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the agency had said in 2017, but they would be redacted to ensure privacy. ...
