According to
ABC News
, the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) has cited Ritter for multiple animal care violations this past year. Indeed, state inspectors and state veterinarians have repeatedly cited Ritter, year after year, after discovering sick or injured dogs in need of medical care. By contrast, USDA inspectors have failed to cite Ritter for any significant violations over the past several years. It is because of these so-called "clean" write-ups by USDA inspectors that
MDA has been hesitant to refer Ritter to the state Attorney General for legal action.
There is concern that Ritter would use her so-called "clean" USDA inspection reports in her defense to counter
the five straight years of state violations for her operation's lack of veterinary care, ramshackle enclosures, and dirty conditions.
For example, on August 8, 2016, USDA noted "no non-compliant items identified during this inspection" at Ritter's facility.
Yet on that same day, August 8, 2016, MDA reported a dozen violations at the kennel including an underweight dog, dogs with loose stools, dogs with fleas and missing fur, two dogs that were lame, a dog with signs of an ear infection, filthy conditions, and more
.
As we reported this past August, the Alliance discovered that
several months after this inspection, the USDA inspector who ignored violations at this facility, had married the daughter of Debra Ritter.
Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how long Debra Ritter's son-in-law has been inspecting her facility.
Sadly, USDA
refuses
to acknowledge the date that Debra Ritter's son-in-law was reassigned from inspecting her operation and will only confirm that he is not doing so currently. USDA did admit that he continues to serve as an inspector for USDA in Missouri while his colleagues inspect his mother-in-law's kennel.
We do know that to date, USDA is still failing to take appropriate action against Ritter's breeding operation.
