Pet store neglect - charged under AWA
Redford, MI (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Nov 30, 1999
County: Wayne
Disposition: USDA Citation
Person of Interest: Thomas W Raspopstsis
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently charged animal dealer and exhibitor Thomas W. Raspopstsis, doing business as Pets and Us, Inc., in Redford, Mich., with violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
"Among other things, Raspopstsis operated without a license," said W. Ron DeHaven, deputy administrator for animal care with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a part of USDA's marketing and regulatory programs mission area. "This lack of oversight and conditions of the facility endangered the health and well-being of every animal at his facility. It is a serious violation of the law."
APHIS inspectors found that Raspopstsis also failed to:
-- Maintain programs of disease control and prevention, euthanasia, and adequate veterinary care under the supervision and assistance of a doctor of veterinary medicine and failed to provide veterinary care to animals in need of care;
- Maintain complete records showing the acquisition, disposition, and identification of animals;
- Maintain surfaces of housing facilities for nonhuman primates and replace them when necessary;
- Develop, document, and follow an appropriate plan for environmental enhancement adequate to promote the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates;
- Maintain structurally sound housing facilities in good repair so as to protect the animals from injury, to contain the animals, and to restrict the entrance of other animals;
- Construct housing facility surfaces in a manner and of materials that allow them to be readily cleaned and sanitized, or removed or replaced when worn or soiled;
- Store toxic substances properly outside of animal areas; and
- Clean and sanitize surfaces of housing facilities. References« MI State Animal Cruelty Map
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