To report this story, The Times submitted public records requests to all 50 states for dog export records, to all 58 California counties for dog import records, to several animal control and law enforcement agencies for investigative files, and reviewed U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections and other documents related to its licensees.
Thirty-three states provided one or more years of veterinary inspection certificates, which document the dogs’ movement and health status. The remaining states deemed the records confidential, had short record retention periods or charged exorbitant fees to collect the documents. In all, The Times collected nearly 60,000 certificates for dogs approved for travel to California, reviewing each page to determine the number of dogs in a given shipment. A single form could list anywhere from one to dozens of dogs.
The Times counted roughly 88,000 dogs allowed into the state since 2018, tracking each entry each year. The analysis represents the clearest count yet of dogs arriving in California from other states.
Each state has several versions of travel certificates: some are digital and many are handwritten. Some states keep records in cardboard boxes at off-site storage facilities; others store them digitally or record them in spreadsheets.
Some of the travel documents included microchips. The Times searched hundreds of microchip numbers in public databases, some of which make owner information public. The pet microchip company Peeva helped put The Times in touch with pet owners whose microchips were registered with the company and appeared on travel certificates. By tracing the microchips, reporters were able to learn where dogs ended up in cases where the destination listed on the travel certificate was a false name or a nonexistent address. Reporters also identified pet owners through civil and criminal court records.
The Times attempted to interview breeders from around the country, including during a reporting trip to Midwestern states. Reporters attended a dog auction in Missouri to see the condition of the breeding dogs being sold.
In California, reporters visited numerous locations listed as destinations for mass shipments of dogs.
The Times also reviewed thousands of pages of USDA investigation reports and inspection records posted online, as well as court documents from several states. Two animal rights groups, Bailing Out Benji and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also shared records provided to them by the USDA.
