Kate Mara pushes feds to put animal welfare records online

Emmy-nominated actress Kate Mara joined the Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday, to help urge the Trump administration to restore online animal welfare records.

Mara helped personally deliver a Care2 petition with over 155,000 signatures to the Agriculture Department calling on Secretary Sonny Perdue to put the records, which were taken down in February, back online.

The actress, best known for her role on “House of Cards,” spoke alongside Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.).

“I’m just one of millions across the country who demand transparency and who demand decency from the USDA,” Mara said.

{mosads}In February, the USDA removed inspection reports on more than 9,000 licensed facilities and animal violation records from its website. Those records included documents on the treatment of animals at puppy mills, animal research facilities, zoos, circuses, and roadside attractions.

Some of those records were reposted later in February, with the agency saying they were reviewing the information to better protect individual privacy. But animal rights groups say many important records are still missing.

“It’s unfortunate that this is where we have to be today, but we deserve better than this,” Mara told the Hill after the rally.

Perdue was not confirmed until April.

McSally, a Republican, said she didn’t want to blame the Trump administration.

“It’s certainly not clear, and I don’t want to assign intent, especially when there was no confirmed head of the department, and you had holdovers from the previous administration in here,” McSally said.

McSally said transparency was a bipartisan concern.

“Some people have said that it’s about privacy, which seems like kind of a false excuse,” she added. “Of course I support privacy, but we’re talking about compliance with laws, and again, providing accountability and transparency.”

Anyone looking for the records can still submit Freedom of Information Act requests, but Blumenauer said the number of FOIA requests will overwhelm the agency.

“It will not be viable,” he said.

Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society, said the thousands of documents gave access to searchable databases that showed where tax dollars were used to inspect animal facilities.

“Without these documents, organizations like The Humane Society of the United States will have a lot more trouble obtaining the information it needs in a timely fashion to press the enforcement of animal welfare standards,” Mara said.

The USDA’s has said the remaining documents are undergoing a “comprehensive review” that found potentially privacy violations involving the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Horse Protection Act (HPA). Although the USDA has publicly shared information on its website regarding enforcement of those laws for more than a decade, the year-long review found the need for additional measures to protect individual privacy.

But Mara and other activists were skeptical of that explanation.

“We are told to trust the agency to do their jobs and penalize those who abuse or violate the law,” Mara said. “Eradicating these records indicates that the USDA has much to hide.”