Regardless of who you voted for or whether or not you support our new president, United States animals are currently in GREAT danger.

Since we elected Donald Trump I have kept an open mind and have made a real effort to educate myself instead of becoming the person who ignores the facts for the sake of sticking to my opinions.

He crossed the line this week, when he hit animal welfare, an area I truly didn’t think would be touched, especially this soon into office. I had to grab my wine after my boyfriend heard a loud, “OH HELL NO!!” from the patio I was working on.

 

Two Major Animal Welfare Events Happened This Week:

  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service Removed Thousands of Records related to the Animal Welfare Act

These records kept the doors open on an amount of transparency relating to research that uses animals (including cats and dogs), puppy mills, circuses, zoos, and related entities. These records gave the public information on annual and inspection reports. This obviously causes huge issues for people trying to take a step in the right direction regarding animal welfare.

I tried conducting some of my own research on the motivation for this sudden and unexpected move… Only two things came up.

  1. The government released an “explanation” that they keep directing people to. After reading through it I realized it was not at all an explanation, but instead a statement of what they did. There was no answer as to why they did it.
  2. Some people believe that the removal of the database correlates with a bill that was proposed called the “Federal Accountability in Chemical Testing (FACT) Act.” This would require animal testing labs to report how many animals they are using in addition to other things with the goal of replacing animal testing with more effective methods. Why is there a suspected connection? Well, the database was removed the day after this bill was proposed.

The information out there on this is scarce and I am really hoping more information comes out quickly. Animal Rescues that takes dogs from research labs can’t even locate dogs to take in. It is pure chaos and is leaving animal lovers helpless.

 

  1. Donald Trump Chooses Brian Klippenstein For The Head Of The United States Department of Agriculture

Brian Klippenstein is the Executive Director for an organization called “Protect the Harvest.” I went to their website to learn more about who they are. Upon arrival on their home page, they referred to the closure of Ringling Brothers Circus as the “Saddest Day on Earth.”

 

Their mission statement states:

“Most Americans are completely unaware.

 Extreme special interests in America have evolved into a wealthy and successful attack industry determined to control our farmers, eliminate hunting, outlaw animal exhibitions (like rodeos and circuses), and restrict animal ownership.

The result is an America that is less free and less prosperous, with reduced access to affordable food. Protect The Harvest was created to defend and preserve the freedoms of American consumers, farmers, ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts, and animal owners.

 Our Mission: Inform. Protect. Respond.

We have three objectives:

INFORM America’s consumers, businesses and decision-makers about the threats posed by animal rights groups and anti-farming extremists.

PROTECT our freedoms and way of life by creating lasting legal safeguards for farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers, and animal owners.

RESPOND to the activities of radical groups by opposing their efforts to pass laws or enact regulations that would restrict our rights, limit our freedoms, and hinder our access to safe, affordable food.”

 

-The website goes further to accuse animal rights activists of trying to eliminate pet ownership and putting it into the same sentence of abolishing breeding by stating, “Their (animal rights activists) goals of abolishing animal ownership and animal breeding is an extreme view not known by many.”

-They recognize breeding as a proud American tradition that should be protected.

-They continue by complaining about enforcing and adding legislation revolving around exotic pets. Claiming appropriate laws are already in place and stating their concern for it effecting zoos and exotic animal parks.

 

Klippenstein has also actively fought against legislation aimed to move animal welfare in a positive direction including the regulation of puppy mills.

I could go on for pages about 2017’s Crella de Vil, but the point here is the animals in the United States are in a VERY VERY bad position. As a group that speaks up for animals, now is the time to gather and be louder than ever. We will not let the issues revolving animals become hidden and we cannot afford to takes leaps backwards. If you have any more information on these issues, please put them in the comments.