A government watchdog has repeatedly challenged the agency for the way it calculates fines. So far this year, more than half of the fines issued were for less than $9,000.
Three dead bats were found in a washroom at Colorado State University, where researchers study bat-borne viral diseases. A shade cloth in the bat enclosure was taken down to be cleaned, and when it “was unfolded the next morning … three perished bats were found inside,” noted a January 2020 report by an inspector with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act.
Colorado State University “developed new procedures and retrained husbandry staff” to ensure that no more bats get trapped and die in the shade cloth, the report said.
Two years later, USDA inspectors found another dead bat, stuck “in the folds of one of the roosting tarps.” The bat appeared dried out and was “readily visible”