ALDF Fights Animal Welfare Information Blackout!

Gestational crates are banned in many states for their cruelty.

BREAKING NEWS from Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) attorney Chris Berry. He brings us the latest in the ongoing legal battle to end the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) animal welfare information blackout! This is a crucial battle for voiceless animals trapped in factory farms and laboratories! ALDF leads a coalition of animal organizations fighting back!

Baby calves are crated too tight to turn around before being sent to slaughter.

The USDA took tens of thousand of records offline in 2017 concerning animal welfare. The ALDF and other animal welfare organizations filed lawsuits against the USDA because the removal of these records violated The Freedom of Information Act and the Administrative Procedure Act which prohibits the removal of these records from public access. The ALDF lost this battle because the courts would not enforce these laws against the government. These are scary times we live in when the government appears to be immune to the very laws it has put in place.

battery cages have up to 11 birds in one cage.

The convenience of having government records available online has also made it possible for the government to easily pull these records offline. Chris explains that these records as well as several others concerning climate change and worker’s rights have also been pulled from the public eye to protect private interest. Now the public can’t see the number of animals in laboratories, puppy mills, and factory farms. The non-human animals are not the only ones effected. This applies to people as well. If we don’t have access to records concerning our species, we can’t protect ourselves or other animals. We should demand that these documents are restored for public access and can never be taken down or abridged. The ALDF hopes its efforts will restore these records completely, without any omissions. We need transparency for the sake of these animals and for the sake of everything we stand for as the democratic government in “the land of the free.” These animals are far from free but we hope they will have rights and protections like humans soon. Thanks to the efforts of the ALDF, that day may come very soon!

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from Earth.” -Abraham Lincoln