Mary Cummins Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Advocates News Los Angeles California: animal welfare act

Showing posts with label animal welfare act. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Why the USDA does not enforce the Animal Welfare Act regulations? Because they have no enforcement power - Animal Advocates

usda, awa, animal welfare act, enforce, violations, regulations

I'm a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and have a small wildlife sanctuary of unreleasable wildlife. I must have a USDA permit to keep these animals. The USDA inspectors told me they have no regulations on size of enclosures, enrichment, type of food...for raccoons, skunks, opossums or squirrels. They only state they must be "sufficient." That said California Fish & Wildlife does have specific regulations for each animal. Our enclosures, treatment are always superior to these minimum standards.

People have asked why the USDA does not go after people who violate AWA regulations. I asked my USDA inspectors who are all licensed veterinarians the same question. They have pets and love animals. They told me they have no enforcement power. If someone is a repeat violator, they will cancel their USDA permit. That is all they can do. They don't have the power to seize the animals, arrest the people or bring charges. They said if they take away the permit, the person will just operate without one with no oversight at all.

Now the California Department of Fish & Wildlife does have enforcement power in regard to wildlife. They can take away someone's permit. If they continue to operate without it, they've committed multiple felonies. They can seize all the animals, arrest the person and file charges against them.

That said someone should write, propose legislation to give the USDA enforcement power just like the Dept of Fish & Wildlife. All that said even with enforcement power the departments don't have the resources to seize and hold all those animals. They have to keep them as evidence until the case is settled or the owner agrees to give them the animals. These cases are long and drawn out.

The only time I've seen Fish & Wildlife take action is when a non-profit rescue has offered to care for the animals during litigation and agrees to take them if the owner or court allows it. That was the only way Fish & Wildlife went after Tiger Rescue. Fund for Animals took care of the tigers and eventually placed them all after the owner signed them over. This is the reason why Fish & Wildlife won't go after the Waystation who has been in violation for years and years.

The only success I've seen is the HSUS Humane Officers who can enforce animal control, animal cruelty, wildlife, regular police...regulations. They only go after cases where they have the resources to care for the animals. They just don't have the resources to help with all the cases.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Friday, February 3, 2017

Animal Advocates starts the #USDAchallenge as USDA removed all inspection, permit info from website

USDA AWA Animal Welfare Act APHIS Donald Trump removes all permit and inspection reports Mary Cummins Animal Advocates #USDAchallenge

UPDATE: 02/22/2017 USDA returned some documents 02/17/2017. They are here.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/sa_obtain_research_facility_annual_report

Here is the notice that some documents have been returned.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/news/!ut/p/z1/vVLLbsIwEPwajpadR_M4hooGEIVKECC-RJvYFBdih8SQ8vd1UC9QQdVLfdrVznh3dhZTvMZUwkm8gxZKwt7kKfWyycx9tvpzMolf3gYkSmbj_mhKbDJ9wqtrwGw59Eg0WCSLaWD1R6GD6WP-ElNMC6krvcUpVFvRZIWSmkud7UVeQ33ukQYyydumVqq8JI2GHd-qPeN1BlKqoyx4aRjNpZqfMwaadzGyieVfAmL3CLSAWp43QnN0rDpM17sqBMOpwyAgIWfICmwfuX5OULhxCuR6PnMs2LAQ4FbrTzGdVnLnRcTw6fU6brdlfwMe_JGaGfx7M8Sxh1cnwVucSFWXxr_5HyUOCR7_Zpm5CfFxONDIGNdZ9anx-t-dq8qkDJwz2m1eB45L0y8kEbZR/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?urile=wcm%3Apath%3A%2Faphis_content_library%2Fsa_newsroom%2Fsa_stakeholder_announcements%2Fsa_by_date%2Fsa-2017%2Fsa-02%2Fawa-website-update

02/08/2017 We uploaded some of the missing USDA files here.

https://archive.org/details/USDA_files

More files here

http://thememoryhole2.org/blog/aphis-annual-reports

We filed a FOIA request for all correspondence, email, faxes, voicemail in regard to the removal of the information from the USDA website. We also requested access to or a digital copy of all the items removed. Here is our FOIA request. We'll update this page with any responses to our request.

http://animaladvocates.us/foia_usda_02032017.pdf

Today the USDA just removed all permit information and inspection reports from their website. If you try to search for them, you get this message.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/enforcementactions

"Last Modified: Feb 3, 2017 Print
Courts are continuously issuing decisions that provide agencies with guidance on interpreting and applying laws applicable to the release of information to the public by the Federal government, including the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice maintains comprehensive guidance involving the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, and other laws, and updates such guidance based on legal developments. APHIS, with the support from the Office of the General Counsel, continuously monitors these sources of information and makes refinements to APHIS’ practices, as needed.

Based on our commitment to being transparent, remaining responsive to our stakeholders’ informational needs, and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals, APHIS is implementing actions to remove documents it posts on APHIS’ website involving the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that contain personal information. These documents include inspection reports, research facility annual reports, regulatory correspondence (such as official warnings), lists of regulated entities, and enforcement records (such as pre-litigation settlement agreements and administrative complaints) that have not received final adjudication. In addition, APHIS will review and redact, as necessary, the lists of licensees and registrants under the AWA, as well as lists of designated qualified persons (DQPs) licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations to ensure personal information is not released to the general public.

Those seeking information from APHIS regarding inspection reports, research facility annual reports, regulatory correspondence, and enforcement records should submit Freedom of Information Act requests for that information. Records will be released when authorized and in a manner consistent with the FOIA and Privacy Act. If the same records are frequently requested via the Freedom of Information Act process, APHIS may post the appropriately redacted versions to its website. In addition, some enforcement records (such as initial decision and orders, default decisions, and consent decisions) are available on the USDA’s Office of Administrative Law Judge’s website (https://www.oaljdecisions.dm.usda.gov). For more information on preparing and submitting Freedom of Information Act requests, please visit https://efoia-pal.usda.gov/palMain.aspx."

This is most likely related to Donald Trump. He told all federal agencies such as the USDA not to give out any information. The USDA permit search is also down. It was here.

https://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/Warning.jspx;jsessionid=7f00000130d877a4b47a2b9d4b9ca181bc36536f1dce.e38Obx8Sb3yQby0Obh0Qe0

We have a USDA Class C exhibitor permit in order to keep sanctuary animals. We always post our permits and inspection reports as we've never had a violation ever since we first had the permit in 2003 14 years ago. We will continue to do so. Any organization that doesn't post their own USDA permits and inspection reports should be suspect. People shouldn't donate or give money to any organization, sanctuary or zoo that doesn't post their permits. Our permits and inspection reports are posted below. All of the documents online were redacted. Here is one such document. They never included our home address, any personal information or even copies of the signatures.

Animal Advocates hereby challenges all over USDA permit holders to post all of their permits and inspection reports. Please, share this post. #USDAchallenge #PostYourInspectionReports

For those that need permit or inspection report information, here is a sample Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request letter I sent. Edit this to suit your needs then email it to FOIA.Officer@aphis.usda.gov. Not having that information online is going to cause USDA to get bogged down with FOIA requests. That's why they put the information online in the first place.

December 1, 2014

USDA, APHIS, Animal Care
FOIA REQUEST
Tonya Woods, FOIA Director
Legislative and Public Affairs
Freedom of Information Act
4700 River Road, Unit 50
Riverdale, MD 20737

Dear FOIA Officer:

Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request access to and copies of All emails, letters and faxes to/from/within the USDA which mention Tawni Angel, Jason Nester, Tawnis Ponies and Petting Farm, any other business name they have used for anything related to her cancelled USDA permit, current permit or any complaints. I specifically want to see her exhibiting, dealer, breeding and transport permits.

I would like to receive the information in electronic format. (Via email to ***.) I agree to pay reasonable duplication fees for the processing of this request.

If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.

I of course reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny a waiver of fees.

I look forward to your reply within 20 business days, as the statute requires. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Mary Cummins