(Iowa Capital Dispatch) U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins appeared at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa this week to tout the agency’s efforts to shut down puppy mills in Iowa and other states.
While at the ARL on Tuesday, Rollins said although the USDA inspectors used to visit a facility, cite violations, and then leave, “those days are over. We are now in the active process of shutting down these puppy mills.”
Rollins said the USDA is “increasing our agents by 20 percent” and is focusing enforcement efforts on states such as Iowa and Missouri where there are significant issues with compliance.
“Iowa is right at the top of the list,” Rollins said. “Virginia and a couple of other states where we’re really, really focusing — I think you’re going to see even more significant action coming very soon.”
Rollins appeared at the ARL alongside Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican seeking reelection in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Earlier this year, the U.S. House approved a farm bill amendment backed by Nunn that his office says will “reinforce” the USDA’s authority to police breeders who violate the law. Nunn’s amendment deleted text from the bill that would have raised the threshold on the level of suffering necessary before the USDA could consider seizing animals believed to be at risk.
Nunn is also a co-sponsor of Goldie’s Act, or HR 349, which seeks to expand certain enforcement provisions of the Animal Welfare Act. The bill, which has yet to be approved in either the House or Senate, would direct the USDA to share with state and local officials the detailed descriptions of violations uncovered during inspections, and require that the USDA conduct follow-up inspections when violations are cited.
In February, Rollins announced the USDA would be taking “historic actions to hold chronic companion animal welfare violators accountable.” At the time, Rollins said, “if you are breeding dogs and not meeting the Animal Welfare Act’s humane standards of care, your time is up. We will not allow a handful of bad actors to tarnish the reputation of responsible American breeders or compromise the humane treatment of animals.”
Rollins: Action on unlicensed breeders
Citing statistics that suggest breeders’ compliance with the Animal Welfare Act has risen from an average of 67% in 2015 to over 92% in 2025, Rollins has said that change reflects both regulatory improvements and increased industry cooperation across the country.
Still, she said, the USDA intends to “root out bad actors with a history of noncompliance” by initiating enforcement action against repeat violators and deploying “specialist teams” to aggressively investigate unlicensed breeders.
Last month, Rollins held what the USDA called a “strikeforce roundtable” with other federal agencies and announced a series of steps to improve regulatory oversight of breeders.
Among those steps:
— New regulations: The USDA says it intends to propose regulations that will be responsive to the “overwhelming” public support for strengthening Animal Welfare Act standards for dogs. At her Iowa appearance this week, Rollins said the agency will be “strengthening licensing requirements under the AWA, strengthening oversight on who conducts surgeries, dental procedures, and euthanasia – they must be licensed vets, which isn’t happening right now.”
— Communication: The USDA will amplify its communication efforts by distributing 2,000 “regulatory refresher mailings” to dog-breeding facilities. The agency says that move will “make crystal clear what the law requires for humane care.”
— Enforcement: The USDA says it has deployed its Animal Protection Bureau to conduct “targeted compliance reviews” and implement modernized enforcement strategies. In 2026, the agency says, it prioritized this focus on “bad actors” by denying or terminating a total of eight dog breeder licenses, suspending six licenses, and revoking five licenses. That same year, the agency conducted over 2,000 inspections of dog breeders and brokers around the nation.
ASPCA cites ‘policy of non-enforcement’
Although the USDA says it is beefing up animal-welfare regulations and oversight, the agency is facing allegations that it doesn’t enforce regulations already on the books.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is currently suing the USDA, challenging the agency’s decision to license three Iowa dog breeders — Steve Kruse, Brian Lichirie and Wuanita Swedlund — accused in the lawsuit of being involved in a puppy-laundering scheme intended to disguise the origin of dogs sold to retailers.
The ASPCA lawsuit was filed in 2024 but has moved slowly through the courts with no scheduling orders issued and no discovery or depositions having taken place.
The ASPCA is now seeking to amend and expand its lawsuit against the federal agency, claiming the USDA’s “ongoing policy of non-enforcement persists to this day.”
Story by Clark Kauffman. Cami Koons contributed to the reporting for this story.
Photo: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, left, holds a kitten at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa during a news conference Oct. 6, 2026, with U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, center, and ARL CEO Tom Colvin. (Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
