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In 2018, the US Department of Agriculture documented 60 percent fewer violations of animal welfare laws at labs, zoos, and pet breeders than it had the prior year, reports The Washington Post.
The agency licenses roughly 8,000 such animal facilities and performs surprise inspections at the sites anywhere from annually to once every few years. US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors document “noncompliances” they observe at the facilities including untreated wounds and insufficient shelter for the animals. In 2018, the number of USDA citations was 1,800, down from 4,000 in 2017.
Citations can lead to the offenders facing penalties or hearings, which also dropped in 2018. Critics say the decline in citations represents a gutting of the USDA’s enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, according to the Post.
Even though the total citations fell in 2018, the number of inspection reports that included citations increased by ...
