The government continues to face gridlock during the partial shutdown.
The shutdown has caused concern for some government-run departments, including problems for the work immigration verification system, tax refund concerns, and potential concerns for food stamps.
Along with other impacts of the shutdown, the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service line now appears to be out of service.
In other words, the hotline for people to call in animal cruelty and agricultural/plant concerns is unavailable.
The USDA's website says "The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service protects and promotes U.S. agricultural health, regulates genetically engineered organisms, administers the Animal Welfare Act, and manages wildlife damage."
We decided to call the tipline, and got a disconnection error message. We sent an email to get a response from the USDA and have not heard back.
PETA says it has stepped in "to fill the void."
Alka Chandna, vice president of laboratory investigation cases at PETA, says the USDA has shut down what is considered "nonessential" services even though it is their responsibility to respond to the abuse of dogs.
PETA decided to call and noted the hotline wasn't working.
"We know that these animals are totally vulnerable and can die because they're not given proper care," Chandna said.
"It is troubling to us that we have more than 1,100 labs in this country and people who work in these facilities have nowhere to go, nowhere in the government to go to talk about problems they're witnessing, so that's when PETA decided, you know, we have a whistleblower hotline, we decided we needed to amplify our activities with all hands on deck and we need to step in."
Chandna also expressed concerns that with the government shutdown, animals are being unimaginably damaged even though they're not government employees or contractors.
PETA is offering a phone hotline and email where people can contact them to report animal abuse and remain anonymous.
"Since our founding, we have worked with whistleblowers, we've relied on people in labs and circuses, along with details and photos in these places where animals are being abused," Chandna added.
The PETA hotline can be reached at 757-962-TELL.
"People in the country care about animals; we know that they're sensitive beings and all of us are heartbroken," she added.
She added that PETA continues to be motivated by people in the public who step up to help animals and say they have received dozens of calls from people everywhere about concerns on ongoing cases, dog breeding and breeding facilities for labs, and dog daycare centers.
"People were excited to see they still have an outlet," Chandna added, "[The hotline is] definitely going to continue to be a place that people can come and tell us where [animal abuse] is going on."
She added that PETA works with whistleblowers to provide advice to people who want to help on how to go forward. They can help provide affidavits for the whistleblower who can attest to various problems, file complaints to the government, and can help get fines levied and licenses pulled, even getting animals confiscated.
"We do whatever we have to help the animals and get policy changes that leave animals out of the equation so they're safe and not vulnerable to misuse as well," Chandna said.
In terms of investigations and in extreme cases, she added that they send an investigator to get hired at the facilities in question to get hard evidence of what's going on, from hidden cameras to eyewitness investigations.
"It's up to all of us to advocate and provide support for animals and be a voice for animals," Chandna added. "The impact of the government shutdown is insane. It's really heartbreaking, it's just terrifying. It's a bad situation either way."
In an email, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Americans for Medical Progress organization criticized PETA's hotline as a fundraising plea by the animal rights group and warned against using the hotline.
"If Americans have concerns about animals during the shutdown, we urge them to utilize one of the many legitimate, public resources available to them," Jim Newman, director of strategic communications at Americans for Medical Progress, wrote in a statement. "This includes state and local animal welfare agencies and if needed, law enforcement. In comparison, PETA has no regulatory authority. A call to PETA’s ‘hotline’ number reveals that it is nothing more than the unstaffed voicemail box."
In response, PETA says its hotline is staffed and redirects to the cell phones of employees if nobody is available to pick up the phone. Chandna said staff return calls, as well, if people choose to leave voicemails.
"PETA may not have the direct authority to walk into a laboratory or another place where animals are used or abused," Chandna explained. "However, we have a lot of resources through our network of concerned individuals across the country. Working with concerned individuals, we are able to document abuse and able to take this documentation to local, state and federal authorities. As a result of PETA's efforts in this regard, laboratories have been shut down, animals have been rescued from horrific conditions, and individuals who have been abusive toward animals have been punished."
If you have concerns about PETA's hotline, a local alternative option would be contacting the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, which is not affiliated.
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