Facebook shutting down animal breeder pages

#Facebook shutting down animal breeder pages skin

Missouri too still has a long way to go on puppy mills. The USDA is now considering a rule that would tighten licensing requirements for offenders, but even if that rule is finalized, we still need the agency to actually enforce the law.

The federal agency cites business owners who do not make their properties available for surprise inspections for вЂњattemptedвЂќ inspections but fails to take any real action against them, allowing even violators with egregious violations to continue doing business selling puppies, as Ritter was.

The USDA appears reluctant to cite even the most problematic violators, and when they do, they list violations for half a dozen or more sick animals under a single citation. Citations over the same period are down approximately 60%. The USDAвЂ™s lack of action is not surprising to those of us who have been calling attention to the sharp drop in enforcement actions taken by the agency under the Animal Welfare Act-a drop of over 90% over the past three years, since the Trump administration took office. On the other hand, the Missouri Department of Agriculture documented five straight years of state violations for issues such as lack of veterinary care, unsafe housing, filthy conditions and dogs with bloody diarrhea, and noted very specific issues with fleas and other pests again and again. For example, an Oct 2019 USDA report listed only a single вЂњindirectвЂќ violation for вЂњcleaning, sanitation, housekeeping and pes controlвЂќ due to dogs with fleas. The USDA has documented a few violations on Cornerstone FarmsвЂ™s inspection reports, but has typically tended to downplay the seriousness of the violations. Yet on that same day, state inspectors found 12 violations, including repeat violations from an earlier inspection that had still not been corrected, such as an underweight dog, dogs with loose stools and missing fur, and more. In her 2018 book вЂњThe Doggie in the Window,вЂќ author Rory Kress documented that on August 8, 2016, the USDA found zero non-compliant issues during an inspection at RitterвЂ™s facility. (Mincey still sells AKC puppies online as вЂњCoryвЂ™s CutiesвЂќ despite the pending legal action, and we hope that the attorney generalвЂ™s office will move to ensure she doesnвЂ™t continue to profit off suffering animals.)Д¬ontrast MissouriвЂ™s actions with a problem we have increasingly been highlighting on this blog-the failure of the USDA to throw the book at breeders like Ritter and Mincey who repeatedly break the law. Last year, the state took action against four other puppy mills that had appeared in our Horrible Hundred reports, including Cory MinceyвЂ™s Puppy Love Kennel, which had violations for sudden deaths at the kennel, severely underweight dogs, filthy conditions and other egregious violations. SchmittвЂ™s office has, in recent years, been taking action against some of the worst puppy mill offenders in what is one of the biggest problem states in the United States for puppy mills. The only reason she is now being held accountable is because of the stellar work being done by Missouri Attorney General Eric SchmittвЂ™s office.

Department of Agriculture, the federal agency tasked with ensuring that businesses that use certain kinds of animals are not mistreating them. But Ritter continued to carry on business as usual, thanks in part to the inaction of the U.S. Cornerstone Farms has also been a source of repeated consumer complaints and media exposes for more than six years.

#Facebook shutting down animal breeder pages skin

A notorious breeder in Missouri who has been featured five times in our annual Horrible Hundred report on problem puppy mills may be closing down her operation, even as the stateвЂ™s attorney general is moving to take legal action against her for mistreating the dogs in her care.Дebra Ritter of Cornerstone Farms, aka Beginnings Ranch, has been in our report for severe problems at her kennel, including injured and underweight dogs, dogs with missing fur and skin lesions, sick puppies and excessive feces and odor.