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Caged raccoons drooled in 100-degree heat. But federal enforcement has faded.
By Karin Brulliard and
William Wan
August 22 at 6:00 AM
For two days running in the summer of 2017, the temperature inside a metal barn in Iowa hovered above 96 degrees. Nearly 300 raccoons, bred and sold as pets and for research, simmered in stacked cages. Several lay with legs splayed, panting and drooling, a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector wrote.
On the third day, the thermometer hit 100, and 26 raccoons were “in severe heat distress” and “suffering,” the inspector reported. Then a USDA team of veterinarians and specialists took a rare step: They confiscated 10 of the animals and made plans to come back for the others.
But after an appeal from an industry group to a Trump White House adviser, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and senior USDA officials intervened, according to five former employees. The inspectors and veterinarians were blocked from taking the remaining raccoons and ordered to return those they had seized.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/caged-raccoons-drooled-in-100-degree-heat-but-federal-enforcement-has-faded/2019/08/21/9abf80ec-8793-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html
3 replies
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No words. 
I'm also assuming this was a "for profit" side gig, legal or not??? Where's the profit in willfully killing the product? Pretty obvious that the USDA knew about this hell on earth "animal mill." Just goes to show the worst of our splendid American values - Life is cheap: puppies, raccoons, women...and we take out insurance in the form of tolerance and/in devices that end our own:
