Puppy mills are abusing animals and getting away with it
This and other news for the week ending March 7, 2025
In other news: Riverside County officials claim they can neglect and kill animals with impunity. A doggy morse code. Another week, another pet food recall. Do you have what it takes to save lives? Where do vegans get their protein? Impossible steak hits the market. Anti-aging advances for older dogs.
These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
Unchecked abuse in mills
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is not doing its job when it comes to overseeing commercial dog breeders. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the majority of complaints about inhumane conditions (69%) were not investigated promptly, allowing dogs to continue suffering. Even when the USDA did inspect and found breeders were violating the law, 80% of breeders failed to rectify the issues, again leaving dogs to suffer from filth, lack of veterinary care, and unsafe living conditions.
Moreover, the OIG found that the USDA ignored its own protocols requiring it to inspect high-risk facilities known for repeated violations more frequently. The USDA admitted it is failing on the job, offering little beyond a bevy of excuses. It is not the first time.
In a prior audit, OIG likewise found that the USDA failed in its mission by choosing to “cooperate” with puppy mills rather than protect dogs by punishing abusers.
As a result,
The agency chose to take little or no enforcement actions against violators,” including repeat violators. In one case, USDA inspectors found “dead dogs and starving dogs that resorted to cannibalism, dogs that were entirely covered in ticks, kennels overrun with feces and urine, and food infested with cockroaches. At the facility in which the starving dogs were found, the [USDA] inspector did not remove the surviving dogs, and as a result twenty-two more dogs died.
Nothing has changed, and nothing is likely to change, at least for the foreseeable future, as protecting dogs in mills has never been a priority for the Administrations of either party. This is why closing down markets by banning the online and retail sales of commercially-bred animals is essential.
In opposing pet store and online sales bans, these breeders like to argue that they are licensed and inspected by the USDA, but as these audits make clear, such oversight is a sham. Not surprisingly, dogs are subjected to systematic neglect and abuse, leaving severe emotional and physical scars on the victims. One in four former breeding dogs have significant health problems, are more likely to suffer from aggression, and many are psychologically and emotionally shut down, compulsively staring at nothing.
Riverside County officials claim they can neglect and kill animals with impunity
As reported previously, a lawsuit against the Riverside County pound alleged that,
The photographs above were taken by a community member visiting the San Jacinto facility of [Riverside County Department of Animal Services] RCDAS. What she saw was appalling — the dog in the picture on the left had been dead for some period of time and the dog pictured on right was laying on an excrement-covered floor with more excrement on the dog’s body…
The lawsuit alleges that “these disturbing photographs of animal cruelty are emblematic of the fundamental failings and pervasive deficiencies, the inertia and inaction, of RCDAS,” representing “a shocking, callous, and ongoing failure to follow California law by RCDAS.” Given these allegations, it is hardly surprising that the Riverside County pound “killed more animals than any other reporting shelter in the United States.”
A court hearing was recently held on the lawsuit, with Riverside County arguing that they should be able to neglect, abuse, and kill animals with impunity because state law — specifically, the Hayden Act — is an “unfunded mandate” that can’t be enforced. Enacted in 1998, the Hayden Act sets forth legislative findings emphasizing the importance of humane treatment for shelter animals. It requires “shelters” to provide adequate care and treatment for injured animals and prioritize adoption over killing. That this needs to be spelled out in law — followed by a lawsuit — to get them to do so boggles the mind.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for March 21, requiring both parties to submit detailed briefs on the Hayden Act’s applicability.
A doggy morse code
