For Immediate Release:
September 7, 2023
Contact:
Brittney Williams 202-483-7382
King County, Wash. – A damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report reveals sick cats, accumulations of trash, fly infestations, and piles of soiled litterboxes at Traipse Inc., an area operation run by Teresa Seling that churns out kittens on the market. In response, PETA rushed a letter to King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion asking her to research the power and file relevant prices in opposition to these liable for the neglect.
According to the just-released report, on July 19 native officers observed {that a} cat named Topaz appeared underweight and dehydrated, and a veterinary examination later revealed that she was affected by an an infection. On July 24, USDA inspectors documented that unfastened stool was present in a kennel confining two cats that might point out critical well being points, rubbish receptacles have been “overflowing,” trash had collected, “numerous” litterboxes have been dirty, and an enclosure had feces on the ground and on an train wheel. Last yr, an inspector reported related points, together with massive piles of apparatus left to build up and tubs that hadn’t been cleaned. The studies point out that the power confines round 30 to 45 cats at a time.
“Filth, sickness, and neglect are standard in miserable breeding facilities like this one, where cats are treated as nothing but commodities,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA urges King County authorities to prosecute those responsible for these cats’ suffering and encourages everyone to adopt from shelters instead of buying animals from pet stores or breeders.”
PETA is pursuing prices beneath state regulation as a result of the USDA doesn’t render aid or help to animals throughout its inspections and these violations carry no federal prison or civil penalties.
Although Washington banned most business gross sales of dogs and cats in pet shops in 2021, loopholes within the regulation permit some shops to proceed promoting puppies from huge brokers. PETA notes that round 70 million cats and dogs are homeless within the U.S. at any given time and that every one breeders add to the overpopulation disaster and deny animals in shelters an opportunity at discovering a home.
PETA—whose motto reads, partly, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For extra info, please go to PETA.org, take heed to The PETA Podcast, or comply with the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Manion follows.
September 7, 2023
The Honorable Leesa Manion
King County Prosecutor
Dear Ms. Manion:
I hope this letter finds you effectively. I’m writing to request that your workplace—and the correct law-enforcement company, as you deem acceptable—examine and, as appropriate, file prison prices in opposition to these liable for neglecting cats at Traipse Inc., a breeding facility operated by Teresa L. Seling at 13310 252nd Ave. S.E., close to Issaquah. PETA hopes investigators will go to the power with a veterinarian who has experience in feline well being and welfare in order that they’ll establish any animals in want of care and opine on the circumstances of and for the roughly 30 to 45 cats there.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors documented neglect on the facility within the hooked up studies, the latest of which was simply made public. On July 19, unidentified native officers discovered {that a} cat named Topaz appeared underweight and dehydrated. A veterinarian confirmed these suspicions and decided that the cat was stricken with an an infection. On July 24, a USDA veterinarian discovered unfastened stool in an outside kennel confining two cats and ordered that each animals obtain acceptable care.
The identical day, inspectors discovered fecal materials on the ground of a cat enclosure, “overflowing garbage receptacles” close to meals for the power’s cats, “numerous soiled litter boxes,” accumulations of “trash and other waste” close to cats’ housing and elsewhere, and “numerous flies … throughout the facility.” Similarly, in May 2022, USDA workers discovered “a large amount” of unidentified tools left to build up close to cats’ housing and several other receptacles in want of cleansing.
These findings might violate RCW 16.52.207(2)(a). The USDA renders no help or aid in any respect to animals on website, and these studies carry no prison or civil penalties and don’t preempt prison legal responsibility for neglecting animals beneath state regulation. If you’d prefer to study extra in regards to the company’s findings, please see the contact info for its Riverdale, Maryland, workplace right here. Thank you on your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Daniel Paden
Vice President of Evidence Analysis
PETA
