In recent months, The Cavalry Group has been responding on behalf of our members, to letters from USDA/APHIS indicating that the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and other animal rights extremist organizations had requested private, confidential information about their business via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted to USDA.
In response to the onslaught of FOIA requests affecting our members, I wrote an article challenging USDA's policy of releasing private, confidential information to these radical animal rights groups, highlighting that USDA knows full well that this unjudicated information would be taken out of context and used to hurt the businesses of the affected licensees.
Read article here
Listen to Mindy Patterson's interview with Trent Loos about this issue here
Statement:
The Cavalry Group and our Members all over the United States applaud the change in USDA policy that was
implemented on Friday, February 3, 2017 regarding private,
confidential and un-adjudicated USDA licensee information.
For the last eight years, USDA has been
releasing confidential and un-adjudicated information to animal rights
extremists and activist organizations, such as the Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) knowing that
the information would be used wrongfully against USDA licensees with the intent
to run them out of business.
Empirical data exists evidencing that
animal rights groups have used licensees’ information to make fraudulent claims
and anonymous tips to authorities, and terrorize law abiding American families
whose livelihood happens to involve exhibiting, breeding, transporting, or
selling animals.
Evidence also exists that during the
past eight years, USDA has been infiltrated by animal rights extremists who,
with some success, attempted to change the culture within USDA-APHIS from one
that is supportive of animal enterprise to one that aggressively bullies and harasses
law abiding animal businesses with the ultimate goal of running them out of
business.
Mindy Patterson
President
The Cavalry Group
