Humane Soc'y of the United States v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Serv.

386 F. Supp. 3d 34
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJune 3, 2019
DocketCase No. 1:18-cv-00646 (TNM)
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 386 F. Supp. 3d 34 (Humane Soc'y of the United States v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Serv.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Humane Soc'y of the United States v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Serv., 386 F. Supp. 3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

TREVOR N. McFADDEN, U.S.D.J.

The Humane Society submitted two Freedom of Information Act requests to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, seeking site-inspection reports and other inspection records for specific animal dealers and exhibitors. The Service released responsive records but redacted significant portions citing privacy concerns.

*40The Humane Society alleges that those redactions are improper, and the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the Court will grant in part and deny in part both motions for summary judgment.

I.

Under the Animal Welfare Act ("AWA"), dealers and exhibitors must be licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA") to market, transport, or exhibit animals. See 7 U.S.C. §§ 2133 - 34. And licensees must comply with the standards promulgated by the USDA for the "humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals." See id. §§ 2133, 2143. The Service, a USDA component, administers and enforces the AWA by inspecting licensed facilities and documenting noncompliant activity, among other things. Woods Decl. 1 ¶¶ 6, 70, ECF No. 18-2. Inspectors conduct three types of inspections: pre-licensing inspections, routine compliance inspections, and focused inspections to follow-up on documented noncompliances. Id. ¶ 8.1

In 2012, the Service started posting inspection reports online to a searchable database. Def.'s Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Facts ("SUMF Resp.") ¶ 13, ECF No. 22-1. The Service rolled out an updated database in 2017 with new redactions. Id. ¶ 15; Woods Decl. 1 ¶ 14. The new database distinguishes between individuals or homestead facilities-businesses co-located with the owner's personal residence-and non-homestead facilities. Woods Decl. 1 ¶¶ 14-16. For example, the public can search for non-homestead businesses using the licensee's name or certificate number. See SUMF Resp. ¶ 20. Not so for homestead businesses. See id. If someone does a generalized search, e.g. , for all licensed dealers in Ohio, the database will return a list of homestead and non-homestead facilities, and for each facility there is a link to the last three years' inspection reports for that facility. See USDA Animal Care Public Search Tool, APHIS, https://acis.aphis.edc.usda.gov/ords/f?p=118:203:0 (last visited May 29, 2019).2 There is no identifying information next to the links for the homestead facilities. Id. Meanwhile, non-homestead businesses are identified by name, address, and customer number. Id.

The Service also redacts inspection reports on the database differently depending on facility-type. Woods Decl. 1 ¶¶ 14-17. It minimally redacts inspection reports for non-homestead facilities, redacting only the signature of the inspector and the signature and title of the receiving official. Id. ¶ 15. For homestead facilities, however, it redacts reports more heavily. Id. ¶ 16. The Service also withholds the licensee's name and address, customer ID, certificate number, inspection identification number, and site name. Id. But in both cases, the Service releases the narrative portion of the report that describes any noncompliant conduct the inspector observed. Id. ¶ 17.

* * *

The Humane Society requested "complete copies of all inspection reports from January 1, 2015 to the time the agency fulfill[ed] th[e] request, for any *41USDA-licensed facilities operating under USDA Certificate No. 52-C-0035." Id. ¶ 18.3 The Service searched its Animal Care Information System for responsive records using the certificate number and pulled responsive records. Id. ¶ 42.4 The search returned 137 pages of inspection records (inspection reports and attached veterinary records), 663 photographs, and 11 videos. Id.5

The Service released nine pages of inspection records in full but redacted information from the other 127 pages citing FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(c). Id. ¶ 22. For the inspection reports, the Service redacted street addresses and zip codes, signatures of inspectors and facility representatives, the narrative descriptions of the inspections, names of third-parties, inspection identification numbers, month and day of inspection, animal inventories, and certified mail tracking numbers.

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Bluebook (online)
386 F. Supp. 3d 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humane-socy-of-the-united-states-v-animal-plant-health-inspection-serv-cadc-2019.