Animal Welfare Documents Removed from USDA Website

Animal Welfare Documents Removed from USDA Website

In February 2017, an online database containing thousands of documents detailing animal welfare violations was removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, after being publicly available for decades. According to the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which maintained the database, the removal was prompted by privacy concerns. It has, however, been criticized by journalists and others. For example, a report in the National Geographic warned that, “[b]y hiding online records of welfare violations, [the department] robs journalists, investigators, and the public of timely information – and takes pressure of abusers.”