IowaWatch (https://www.iowawatch.org/tag/animal-and-plant-health-inspection-service/)
A series of IowaWatch stories in late 2014 and early 2015 dug into concerns about how dog breeding facilities are inspected in Iowa. Animal rights advocates say not enough is being done to protect animals while breeders who talked with IowaWatch said inspections sometimes are unfair and aimed at the wrong people. Our quiz provides some updates.
Agribusiness giant Monsanto is steadily moving forward on the introduction of its next major wave of genetically engineered crops. It’s a bid to stop a super weed, but with critics.
We love our pets, but plenty of people are concerned about why some who raise dogs for sale to us get to keep animals, after being cited repeatedly for harming the dogs’ health.
A renewed attempt will be made again this legislative session to strengthen Iowa’s ability to inspect and regulate large dog breeding facilities in the state, but with a scaled-down focus.
Federal inspectors say they have increased their dog breeding facility inspections after a critical 2010 review that said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was not doing enough. But the inspection service had only 120 inspectors to check some 10,000 licensed dog breeding facilities in the United States.
IowaWatch summer 2014 intern Jacob Luplow and executive director-editor Lyle Muller were the guests on the Tuesday, Oct. 21, “Your Town” show on KXIC radio, AM 800, in Iowa City. Host Jay Capron talked with Luplow, a student at Cornell College, about an IowaWatch story he did about troublesome dog breeders who repeatedly violate Animal Welfare Act regulations designed to protect animal health, but who get to keep animals while being cited for those repeat violations. He talked with Muller about other work being done at IowaWatch. You may listen to Capron’s conversation with IowaWatch by skipping to the 20-minute mark of this one-hour podcast.
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting finds holes in the system that was to answer concerns over salmonella-related recall from egg plants operated by DeCoster Egg Farms of Iowa. All egg production facilities still are not inspected as required by the plan, the center’s investigation finds.