Investigations
CAPS conducts hundreds of undercover investigations each year. Our targets include not only pet shops but also the huge network of USDA-licensed breeders and brokers who supply pet shops and the internet with animals. Undercover CAPS investigators have been inside more than 1,000 puppy-and-kitten mills.
Videos and reports from our investigations have helped expose the disturbing realities of commercial dog and cat breeding. These investigations also provide important evidence for our ongoing legal, legislative, and outreach efforts.
See samples of CAPS undercover investigations
Our longtime efforts in Illinois led to 2021 passage of the law banning the retail sale of dogs and cats. Maryland, Maine, Washington and Oregon also have retail ban laws, although Maine and Washington grandfathered in three existing pet shops. Oregon’s legislation originally would have permanently grandfathered in the state’s two pet shops investigated by CAPS. Our opposition to this resulted in a five-year grandfather clause.
Learn more about laws we’ve helped enact.
USDA Oversight
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) licenses and inspects our country’s 3,000 commercial dog and cat breeding facilities. The USDA is supposed to protect the animals living there by enforcing the Animal Welfare Act.
CAPS has been investigating the USDA since 1995, and our evidence has proven, however, that the federal agency has minimal concern for dogs and cats suffering in mills—or for puppies and kittens transported to pet shops or sold online. CAPS continues to put pressure on the USDA, and we are advocating for congressional oversight hearings into the USDA’s wrongdoings.
Read the OIG Report and USDA-Related Articles.