I'm a National Geographic reporter investigating USDA enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act—AMA!

Why is the USDA in charge of enforcing the Animal Welfare Act? It seems like the USDA's agricultural focus doesn't necessarily align with animal welfare.

That’s a great question! When the Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966, the USDA actually made this very point to Congress, which was deciding which agency should enforce the new law. In a hearing, then-Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman told Congress that “the functions of this Department, insofar as animals are concerned, relate basically to livestock and poultry” and asked “whether it would not be desirable that … [the Animal Welfare Act] be administered by a Federal agency more directly concerned.”

A lot of animal welfare experts think this is the reason we should have an independent federal agency with animal welfare as its sole mandate. One of my sources said the fact that the regulation of animal welfare was foisted upon an agency with fundamentally inconsistent priorities meant that the Animal Welfare Act was set up to fail.

That's very interesting. What other federal agencies have any responsibility in this area?

There really aren't any! There is no federal agency in the U.S. that is solely responsible for animal welfare—but some people think one should be created.

Hello Rachel. I live in Las Vegas and have been watching and reporting on the conditions within the Mirage facility for almost a decade now. The animals were covered in a pox condition (visibly, for many years, you can google 'mirage dolphin pox' and my stuff comes up!) and I have witnessed many violations but every report of the facility ends up nearly spotless.

What can I do to ensure that my reports are taken seriously and how can I hold the USDA more accountable?

Hi, thanks for your question! If you haven’t reported your observations to the USDA yet, I would do that. If that doesn’t work, try reporting the facility to a local or national animal welfare group. Hopefully they can help increase accountability.

How long until what you do will be considered a felony with an automatic 10+ year sentence?

Thanks for your question! If you're asking about punishments for Animal Welfare Act violations, the USDA usually issues fines, license suspensions, or animal confiscations. Prosecutions and jail sentences are rare.

Actually, I meant for reporting violations.

Like 2FalseSteps said. Corporate lobbyists have gone out of their way to lobby for factory farm protections.

I've read a few stories of undercover reporters and/or protestors being arrested and charged for multiple offenses just for reporting violations on large factory farms. As well as legislation being introduced (and passed?) specifically protecting factory farms from reporters.

Ah, I understand your question now! Sorry for the confusion. Covering factory farms is definitely difficult, but since the Animal Welfare Act doesn't cover farmed animals, I didn't report on them for this story. A lot of information was available in public records, and some of these regulated wildlife facilities are open to the public!

After doing research for this cause, are you or have you considered being vegan? I can only imagine the horrific things you have witnessed as part of this assignment.

Thanks for your question! Farmed animals are actually not regulated by the USDA, so the Animal Welfare Act doesn't cover them. For this story, I mostly reported on captive wildlife and dog breeders. Covering wildlife definitely makes me think about ethical wildlife tourism and which facilities (like zoos and sanctuaries) are worth visiting!

They are policed though, aren't they? Perhaps they fall under the domain of the FDA?

Sorry, I should have clarified—the USDA regulates farmed animals, but they are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act. Here's more information on farmed animal welfare: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/farm-animal-protection-faq

Wow, this is quite a topic. How do you manage to stay sane? I imagine you’re seeing, (and exposing) some horrific things.

Thanks for reading! It helps to see/interview all the people who are fighting so hard for animals, including the former USDA employees who came forward. I think the problem here is lack of awareness rather than apathy, because people generally care about animals and want them to be treated well. Walks with my dog also help in the sanity department!

Hi Rachel.

I love animals. I have coexisted with animals pretty much my entire life. I have been been blessed to be able to share in emotional existence with animals. When humans get treated in such horrific fashions as described in your linked natgeo story, we call it a crime against humanity. From my understanding, all mammals have limbic systems and therefore have feelings and moods.

My question to you is: As we march endlessly towards an anthropogenic earth, one that is shaped to meet human needs and desires, will there be any room left for animals? A deer cannot coexist with a highway. Insects cannot coexist with automobiles. Is it even possible to think otherwise? Any sort of captivity is clearly inhumane--but what else is possible? The wild world is shrinking by the hour and our space in time is vastly different than what early homo sapiens experienced.

Thank you for fighting the good fight.

Hi, thanks so much for reading! I also love animals. Something that gives me hope is the number of people fighting for animal rights and welfare—including some of the former USDA employees I spoke to for this story. The reason they came forward is because they were upset at what they saw and wanted to speak up for animals. I think the more people know about the state of animal cruelty in the US (and everywhere!), the more we can combat it.

How are fish covered under USDA enforcement? Hatcheries have millions of fish that are bred and released into the environment to generate significant economic and environmental impact, yet the conditions they live in are rarely discussed in public despite being sub par relative to other captive conditions of conspecifics in public aquariums or terrestrial species in similar settings.

Great question! Fish are actually not covered under the Animal Welfare Act. Neither are farm animals, rats, mice, or reptiles. I think people largely assume all animals are protected under the AWA, but in reality, many are excluded.

Thank you for your response. How can I help make fish covered by the AWA? Or is there a process to amend the act as it currently stands?

This is a tough one—I think there's an emerging fish welfare movement, but as far as I know, there aren't any ongoing pushes to amend the AWA to include fish, unfortunately. I'd recommend reaching out to animal welfare groups that specialize in this!

What was the most surprising or worrisome thing you heard from former USDA inspectors? What kinds of problems did they look the other way on?

Thanks for your question! I would say the most upsetting example I came across while reporting this story was the facilities owned by Iowa dog breeder Daniel Gingerich—inspectors saw dead animals decaying on the property, skeletal dogs, and dogs with oozing lesions and skin conditions. But for months, no action was taken. One of the former inspectors described seeing a dog with an eye lesion that was overlooked (until she called attention to it). Overall, some of the most egregious cases seemed to be in dog breeding facilities.

How often do you find issues with private animal compounds like the one in Tiger King?

It's hard to say how often this is happening, since there are so many facilities and they can't be monitored 24/7. What I will say is that I think Tiger King is just the tip of the iceberg. Until Tiger King, the park was licensed by the USDA (although they had cited him multiple times).

Interesting article. Did you by any chance look into federal agencies using animals for testing and whether you found any similar problems of enforcing animal welfare laws in that area?

Thanks for reading! Laboratories are also regulated by the USDA, so lab animals (excluding rats, mice, and a few other species) are theoretically protected by the Animal Welfare Act. Unfortunately, due to the USDA’s lack of enforcement, poor welfare in labs is likely going undetected.

Has it been getting significantly worse due to the potential financial difficulties due to the pandemic, or it’s just deteriorating constantly by ignorance? I think some places might skip a meal or two for those poor animals for whatever cost saving reasons, sadly..

That's a great question—the pandemic has definitely hindered animal welfare regulation. Inspecting facilities has become very difficult, which has unfortunately made it easier for facilities to get away with poor welfare. At the Iowa dog breeder's facilities, where inspectors found dead and starving animals this year, there were no inspections for about a year.

Is there anything that you do differently now after doing the research for your article?

In general, researching this confirmed for me that just because a facility has a USDA license, it doesn't necessarily mean animal welfare is protected! It's important to look for other indicators of welfare (like AZA accreditation, for example).

"agency caters to business interest"

When is this not the case, ever?

That's generally true, but it should not be the case for an agency tasked with protecting the welfare of animals. In recent years, the USDA has focused on customer service—and according to their spokesperson, their "customers" are the people and businesses that interact with the USDA. But shouldn't a federal agency be serving the animals and the American public, and not businesses?

I wholeheartedly agree, but there's endless examples of federal agencies doing absolutely nothing if it means going up against 'money' and aligned interests - which isn't exactly surprising, nor is it limited to the USA.

That's fair, but I think the USDA responds to public pressure, like they did when they took action against the Lowes after Tiger King. So raising awareness about these issues is key!