Beagle Freedom Project Files Lawsuit Against USDA-APHIS, in Effort to Restore the Animal Abuse Registry

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 14, 2017) - Beagle Freedom Project (BFP), the renowned non-profit national, animal rescue and advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). BFP, along with five other animal advocacy groups, are challenging the USDA-APHIS to restore the Animal Abuse Registry, an online database of records related to puppy mills, laboratories, roadside zoos, traveling animal shows, and other enterprises that use and exploit helpless animals. 

It was earlier this month that, without warning, the USDA-APHIS deleted thousands of records relating to the welfare of animals in abuse industries, including research facilities that experiment on dogs and cats. This means all animal labs and inhumane acts/abuse going on internally, will now stay hidden from public record.

"In an effort to restore records relating to animals and animal welfare, we are proud to announce that BFP has joined forces with PETA, Born Free USA, PCRM, Delcianna Winders, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," said Shannon Keith, President and Founder of BFP. "Our organization relies and uses these public records to consistently fight for animal rights, helping to protect them.

BFP's fundamental mission is to place animals in loving homes after they have been used for research. The organization's core principles and values have always centered on the fact that every animal deserves the opportunity to experience life as a beloved member of an adoptive family. With this new regulation in place, BFP is virtually blinded and no longer privy to the locations of where animals are being used for testing. Therefore, the non-profit would cease full resources that assist in its mission to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home animals formerly used in research.

BPF encourages the public to speak out against this action by contacting their members of Congress and urging them to do everything in their power to compel the USDA-APHIS to restore all records back onto its website. The public can also sign BFP's petition on Change.org.

For more information on Beagle Freedom Project, or to interview Shannon Keith, please contact Eileen Koch of EKC PR, a full service Branding, Marketing, and Public Relations firm at 310.441.1000 or email Eileen@ekcpr.com. Visit www.EKCPR.com.