USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Isn't Doing Its Job and They Know It.

USDA Inspector General's Audit Report: 33601-0002-31 "Animal Care Program Oversight of Dog Breeders."

APHIS is responsible for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act. The agency not doing its job is like all the cops being on vacation at the same time.

There's really no one policing APHIS. This is just the latest scathing report on APHIS from the USDA's Inspector General's Office.

Excerpts from the summary:

"We identified data reliability issues with reports generated from APHIS’ Animal Care Information System (ACIS) database. This occurred because the agency no longer has a data manager for ACIS, and several large patches to the system have made it unreliable. As a result, APHIS is impeded in its ability to make informed management decisions, identify trends in noncompliant items, and identify how many inspections have been completed."

We also found that APHIS did not consistently address complaints it received or adequately document the results of its follow-up. This occurred because APHIS does not have a documented process for responding to complaints or for recording the results of the agency’s actions. As a result, some dog breeder facilities may be conducting regulated activity without a USDA license or oversight. Therefore, APHIS is not able to ensure the overall health and humane treatment of animals at these facilities."

"APHIS agreed with our findings."