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Judge: USDA inspectors must report violations uncovered at dog-breeding operations

on Fri, 12/12/2025 - 21:32   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch
December 11, 2025

A federal judge has ruled federal animal-welfare inspectors can no longer conduct “courtesy visits” at dog-breeding operations while allowing violations to go unreported.

The ruling could have major implications for animal-welfare inspections in Iowa, which is home to roughly 265 federally licensed dog breeders and dealers — more than any other state except Missouri, Ohio and Indiana.

The ruling was handed down recently as part of a federal lawsuit filed four years ago in the District of Columbia by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS.

Animal rights group awaits court ruling; asks to add more evidence to Cricket Hollow Zoo lawsuit

on Wed, 12/30/2015 - 01:12   by Editor

While awaiting a U.S. District Court ruling seeking removal of endangered animals from Cricket Hollow Zoo near Manchester, animal rights advocates have filed a motion to add more evidence in support of their case.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and plaintiffs Tracey and Lisa Kuehl filed the motion Dec. 18 asking U.S. District Court Chief Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles to admit U.S. Agricultural Department inspection reports on the zoo from last July and September.

The motion to allow the two USDA inspections reports from July and September into evidence was approved by Judge Scoles in an order filed Wednesday (12/30).

Cricket Hollow Zoo critics seek to force USDA to take action to close Manchester facility

on Wed, 01/28/2015 - 03:12   by Editor

An animal rights group has taken its efforts to close the troubled Cricket Hollow Zoo near Manchester, Iowa to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

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