The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging the USDA’s denial of ALDF’s petition for rulemaking. The petition asked the USDA to revise its animal confiscation regulations and establish procedures for relocating animals from facilities that do not comply with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The complaint alleges that “[t]here currently exists a fatal gap in the AWA regulations that allows USDA to abandon at-risk animals at facilities with AWA violations so severe that the agency pursues enforcement or revokes or suspends the facility’s AWA license.” ALDF is asking the court to order the USDA to set aside their denial of the petition and render a new decision on the petition.
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