Today is the last day the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will accept public comments on a disastrous proposal to use third-party organizations—not federal inspectors—to inspect and assess facilities, including commercial dog breeders, regulated under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). This plan could allow for-profit businesses and industry-friendly organizations to inspect entities that exploit and exhibit animals—like puppy mills, research labs and zoos—without any public accountability, essentially creating a self-policing system.

Not only would it set a dangerous precedent for AWA enforcement, but this move would go against Congress’s intent to have USDA conduct oversight of these facilities. Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, a longtime champion of animal welfare and author of important amendments to the AWA, noted in a recent letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue that “by relying on third-party inspections, USDA is at risk of not only eschewing its over 50 years of responsibility for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act, but also of disregarding Congress’s intent to ensure the humane care and treatment of animals at regulated facilities in a transparent manner.”

You can still join Senator Dole and thousands of other advocates in speaking up against this proposal. Please submit a comment to the USDA before midnight, telling them enough is enough—do your jobs!