ASPCA Sues USDA for Enabling Cruel Puppy Mill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The ASPCA^® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals^®), with the assistance of Holland & Knight, has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that the agency acted contrary to law by issuing a dog dealer license to Steve Kruse, an Iowa based dealer with a decades-long history of animal welfare violations.

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was enacted to protect animals who are used in for profit businesses, including high-volume commercial dog dealers who breed and sell dogs wholesale to pet stores or research facilities. The ASPCA’s complaint alleges that USDA routinely licenses dog dealers like Kruse, despite the agency’s direct knowledge and observation of conditions, care, and practices that fall far below the meager standards required by the AWA. The USDA’s own inspection reports detail horrific treatment of breeding dogs kept caged in Kruse’s massive West Point, Iowa operation, which typically holds more than 700 dogs. These reports have documented dogs limping and suffering from open, bleeding wounds, dogs with untreated eye infections, severe dental issues, and painful fur matting without receiving veterinary care – including Kruse “treating” a dog by pouring hot sauce on open sores and a dog bleeding from burst sutures after being surgically inseminated. USDA reports have also documented dogs living in cages so small that they restricted “freedom of movement” and “normal postural adjustments”, with fecal matter on their coats and in their food bowls. Reports also detailed Kruse’s unlawful “interference” during inspections, including an incident where he threw a bag of dead puppies at a USDA inspector.

“The USDA’s handling of Steve Kruse is emblematic of the agency’s continued failure to protect dogs in puppy mills, and the agency’s outright refusal to simply do its job,” said Robert Hensley, Senior Counsel, ASPCA Legal Advocacy and Investigations. “Thousands of animals have suffered and died while the USDA continues to ignore its legal and moral responsibility to protect them.”

In addition to licensing Kruse directly, the USDA has knowingly and unlawfully issued separate licenses for commercial kennels on properties owned by Kruse, which are operated by other licensees and pre-stocked with Kruse’s dogs – enabling him to maximize the number of dogs he produces while keeping his risk low. Hundreds of Kruse’s dogs cycle through these businesses every month and thousands of these puppies flow from Iowa to pet stores and brokers across the U.S. – without any mention of Kruse’s name. In the past three years alone, one of these USDA licensees was convicted of animal cruelty and another was forced by the state of Iowa to “downsize” after numerous puppies died.

“Records obtained by the ASPCA revealed that the USDA is fully aware that Kruse’s agents are acting under the control and direction of Kruse, yet the USDA continues to license these facilities, enabling Kruse to shield himself from all risks and liability when violations of the Animal Welfare Act are discovered at his properties,” said Hensley. “Since 2022, the ASPCA has filed nine complaints with the USDA concerning Kruse and his associates. Yet, the USDA has consistently refused to respond to this unlawful licensing arrangement. By sanctioning Kruse’s massive breeding scheme, the USDA has violated its own regulations and is continuing to endanger the welfare of countless animals.”

One breeder who operated a puppy mill under this arrangement with Kruse is the notorious Daniel Gingerich, who amassed over 200 violations of the AWA at multiple properties across Iowa before the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to negotiate the rescue of more than 500 dogs from horrific conditions. Inspired by the plight of Goldie, a Golden Retriever who suffered and died in Gingerich’s puppy mill, federal lawmakers introduced Goldie’s Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the USDA to conduct more frequent and meaningful inspections, provide lifesaving intervention for suffering animals, issue penalties for violations, and communicate with local law enforcement to address cruelty and neglect.

The ASPCA Legal Advocacy department focuses on increasing legal protections for animals across the country and shaping stronger animal welfare laws through the judicial system. In recent years, the ASPCA has successfully sued the USDA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the agency’s failure to fulfill its legal obligation to disclose animal welfare records related to the treatment of dogs warehoused by federally-licensed commercial breeders, and the organization also has an ongoing lawsuit against the USDA, challenging the agency’s non-enforcement policies that allow dog dealers to violate the law. A recent ASPCA report analyzing the USDA’s own data shows that last year, USDA inspectors documented over 1,000 violations of care at more than 400 of the dog breeding facilities that the agency licenses but only took action against four dog dealers.

For more information on the ASPCA’s efforts to protect dogs in commercial breeding facilities, visit www.aspca.org.