The Other Animal-Welfare Documents APHIS Deleted
>>> They did it again. At the beginning of February, the USDA’s animal-welfare division (APHIS) suddenly deleted tens of thousands of documents. This led to a media firestorm and a national outcry, including demands from Senators and Representatives that the database be restored. So what did APHIS do? While this was happening, they quietly deleted another set of documents from their website.
On February 24, they wiped out all documents having to do with around 860 Freedom of Information Act requests from 2010 and 2011 (other years were never posted). For each request, APHIS had posted the request letter and the response letter, plus any documents that were released as a result, which covered investigations of breeders and zoos, a list of people fined for mistreating horses, the practice of shooting wildlife from helicopters, the safety of rabies vaccines, and a database of every marine mammal in captivity in the US.
For most of these requests, there were APHIS documents released, and in the majority of cases, there were multiple documents. My estimate is that well over 1,000 documents were pulled, maybe even 2,000, totaling over 10,000 pages. (And this doesn’t include all the request and response letters. Counting those would add another 1,720 documents.)
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This was the location: www.aphis.usda.gov/foia/efoia_list.php. And in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, you can still see the listings of FOIA requests, although you can’t get to the documents. (APHIS has left up the documents related to one FOIA request – it involves their investigation into how Monsanto’s transgenic wheat showed up in an Oregon farmer’s field.)
Retrieving each individual document was a multi-step process that involved going back and forth between the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine and Google’s cache. Because webpages and other documents usually disappear from Google’s cache days after they go offline, the clock was ticking.
Not every request resulted in documents being released, and for the ones that did, those documents weren’t always retrievable. But for the requests that led to documents being released, which were still retrievable, I grabbed what sounded like the most important ones.
Below, I’ve reposted the documents associated with 79 requests. (APHIS’s description of each request is in quote marks, and each number is the number APHIS assigned to that FOIA request.)
11-358 – “Photos visuals or laboratory records relating to citations at various laboratories”
10-340 – “AWA [Animal Welfare Act] Penalties Paid – 2008 to 2009”
11-290 – “List of Individuals Violating The Horse Protection Act”
10-042 – “Records Showing Who Received Tickets For Violation of the Horse Protection Act”
11-421 – “List Of Those Who Violated Federal Regulation For Commercial Transportation Of Equines To Slaughter”
11-179 – “Inventory of Breeders In Eastern and Western Districts”
11-284 – “Names and Addresses of Puppy Mills In Michigan”
10-077 – “Class B dealers supplying live dogs and cats for research teaching and testing who are urnder investigation for violating AWA [Animal Welfare Act]”
11-414 – “A complete copy of The Marine Mammal inventory database”
11-086 – “License Registration Inspection System LARIS Data” [LARIS is a database used “to record licensing and registration of all breeders, exhibitors, and other facilities and to document their inspection and violation histories”]
11-086_Annual_Usage_Counts_2007_Present
11-085 – “Animal Welfare and Scientific Research Conference”
11-238 – “Animal Inventory Data For Various Circuses”
11-634 – “Documents regarding the Carson and Barnes Circus and the death of African elephant Joy”
11-587 – “Repair order inspection reports of Ringling Brother”
11-313 – “Documents relating to export of killer whales from Sea World to Loro Parque”
11-126 – “Killer Whale Lolita” [at Miami Seaquarium]
11-279 – “Tank Belonging To Lolita At The Miami Seaquarium”
10-466 – “Miami Seaquarium”
10-571 – “APHIS Form 7003” [all applications for new licenses and license renewals for breeders, dealers, exhibitors, and carriers in Minnesota]
11-681 – “Documents related to USDA licensed commercial dog and cat breeders and brokers in Minnesota”
11-247 – “Animal Inventory Count for Class A and B Breeders in Minnesota”
10-674 – “Complaint W10-093” [about a Florida man who boxes a kangaroo for the public. If you thought this shit only happens in cartoons, think again]
10-641 – “Form 10-13 for horses shipped to Mexico for slaughter” [“copies of all 10-13 forms pertaining to horses shipped to Mexico for slaughter dated from January 1, 2010 to Freedom of Information August I, 2010.”]
11-240 – “Commercial transport of equine to slaughter”
11-539 – “Owner Shipper papers for horses shipped to slaughter by Nickerson Livestock”
11-006 – “Horse Industry Organizations” [“records from each of the 14 licensed Horse Industry Organizations showing the appeals that have been submitted to HIO during 2009 -2010.”]
10-429 – “Adverse Event Reports Pertaining to PreveNile”
10-066 – “Imrab 3 TF Rabies Vaccine”
11-445 – “Documents related to complaints regarding the Three Bears Habitat in Pigeon Forge”
11-668 – “USDA records related to the Zoological Wildlife Foundation”
10-685 – “City of Topeka Zoo”
11-221 – “Copy of Complaint Regarding Chattanooga Zoo”
11-763 – “Inspection reports for the St. Louis Zoological Park”
11-097 – “Records Regarding Great Ape Experience”
11-063 – “Cricket Hollow Zoo- W10-162”
11-043 – “Investigation of San Francisco Zoological Gardens”
10-687 – “Chief Saunooke Bear Park and Cherokee Bear Zoo”
10-699 – “Request for Various Complaints” [actions taken against 5 zoos and circuses]
10-056 – “The Elephant Sanctuary”
10-218 – “Aerial Gunning of Wildlife”
11-261- “All documents relating to the aerial gunning in Wilderness Areas and Study Areas in Nevada”
11-193 – “Number of Bears Taken [killed] from 1992 thru 2010”
10-514 – “Wolf Take [killing] Permits in Eastern Oregon”
11-701 – “Documents related to mountain lions taken [killed] by USDA Wildlife Services in California”
10-639 – “Culling of Canada Geese”
10-529 – “Beaver Trapping”
10-001 – “Deer Culling_Grand Haven MI”
11-758 – “Copy of trapper field diaries relating to three golden eagles caught in Wyoming in 2009”
11-735 – “Documents related to the non-target take [killing] of a bald eagle in a leg hold trap 2005”
11-615 – “Documents related to several exotic birds intentionally killed with pole and raptor traps”
11-608 – “Documents related to 60 ravens intentionally killed with toxicant DRC-1339 in California”
11-605 – “Documents relating to ten coyotes reportedly unintentionally killed in California”
11-519 – “Information regarding Golden Eagles killed in Wyoming that was mentionedi in online report by APHIS”
11-484 “comment on p 16DO NOT POST” [“all animal action reports for wildlife services taken in California during 2009 and 2010.”]
11-146 – “Permit to Kill Geese in Bends Park”
10-549 – “Complaints Against University of Kansas Medical Center”
10-683 – “Vaccine Batch at Colorado Serum Company” [use of hamsters in medical texting]
11-001 – “Colorado Serum Company” [animal experimentation]
10-248 – “Communications Between Vanderbilt University and USDA APHIS AC”
11-054 – “Records Regarding Auburn University”
10-476 – “Use of Live Pigs Baystate Medical Center”
11-282 – “Documents related to USDA licensed commercial facilities in Iowa”
11-276 – “Copies of Various Complaints” [against specific zoos, circuses, and sanctuaries]
11-516 – “Copy of Inspection Reports for Several Exhibitors” [zoos, sanctuaries, etc.]
11-093 – “Cougar Attack Lisbon OH”
11-067 – “Animal Inc.- Madison, WI”
11-376 – “Inspection history of Paul Morell Florida for years prior to 2007”
11-460 – “Copy of records regarding dog breeder Pat Crabtree of Saint Francis KS and Tiny Town Texas of Wills Point TX”
11-560 – “Documents related to Complaint E11-112 against Bret Lincoln”
11-144 – “Records Regarding Jeff Fortin”
11-267 – “Records Related to Monalisa Laucomer”
11-677 – “Documents regarding breeder Robert Brownlee”
11-116 – “Travel Itineraries for Joe Schreibvogel and Hugo Liebil”
10-703 – “BJs and Guys LLC Menlo KS”
10-112 – “Steve Kruse – Stonehenge Kennel”
10-587 – “Wildlife Hazards Assessment Cooperative Agreements” [Pennsylvania airports]
10-165 – “Franklin County Starling Incident”
11-053 – “Chembio Diagnostic Inc”
10-462 – “Form 3-177 Declaration Packages”
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