PETA Complaint Prompts USDA to Penalize Clay County, Florida, for Illegal Dog Experiment

January 2009

PETA learned that Florida’s Clay County Animal Control (CCAC) conducted an experiment in which employees locked a helpless dog in a hot truck. They were trying to determine whether heat stress had caused the death of another dog who had previously been transported in a CCAC vehicle. PETA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The USDA agreed and cited CCAC for five violations of the AWA.