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Under the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is required to inspect every commercially licensed animal breeder, dealer, exhibitor, and research facility in the United States. Federal inspectors visit these facilities unannounced and evaluate housing conditions, veterinary care protocols, sanitation standards, feeding practices, enclosure sizes, ventilation, temperature control, and record-keeping accuracy. Each inspection produces a detailed report that becomes part of the public record. Facilities that fail to meet minimum standards receive citations ranging from non-critical paperwork issues to critical violations that pose an immediate threat to animal health. These reports are what BreederCheck compiles and grades, giving you a window into how a breeder actually operates when no buyers are watching.

Every facility begins with a perfect compliance score of 100 points. From there, we deduct points based on the severity and frequency of documented violations. Critical violations, those involving immediate danger to animal health or life, carry the heaviest penalty at 30 points each. Direct violations, which relate to conditions that could become harmful without correction, deduct 15 points. Non-critical violations covering recordkeeping and minor maintenance issues deduct 5 points. Repeat offenses, where the same violation appears on multiple inspections, trigger an additional 10-point penalty because they suggest a pattern of neglect rather than an isolated incident. Facilities that maintain a clean inspection record for three or more consecutive years receive a modest bonus to their score. The final number maps to a letter grade: A+ for 95-100, A for 90-94, B+ for 85-89, B for 80-84, C+ for 75-79, C for 70-74, D for 60-69, and F for anything below 60.

An F grade means a facility has accumulated enough violations, particularly critical and repeat offenses, to score below 60 on our 100-point scale. This is a serious red flag, but it requires context. An F does not necessarily mean animals are suffering right now; some violations may be years old and since corrected. What it does tell you is that the facility has a documented history of failing to meet federal animal welfare standards across multiple inspections. Breeders with F grades have typically received citations for issues like inadequate veterinary care, unsanitary enclosures, overcrowding, insufficient shelter from weather, or repeated failure to address previously cited problems. If you are considering purchasing from an F-rated facility, we strongly recommend visiting in person, asking to see recent inspection reports, and requesting references from a licensed veterinarian before making any commitment.

All data on BreederCheck is sourced directly from official USDA APHIS inspection reports, which are public records under federal law. We import and process the latest available data on a regular basis. That said, there is typically a lag between when USDA conducts an inspection and when the report becomes available in public data releases, this gap can range from a few weeks to several months depending on the USDA processing backlog. Our grading algorithm recalculates each facility's score whenever new data arrives. For the most current inspection status of any individual facility, we recommend checking the USDA Animal Care Public Search Tool in addition to the information on our site.

Yes for everything you need to make a quick decision. The free data covers search across all 15,800+ USDA-licensed facilities, our A+ to F compliance grade for each breeder, total inspection and violation counts, the recent-violations summary, and the species and location details, all without registration. For buyers who want the full story before spending $2,000+ on a puppy, we offer optional paid reports: $9.99 single unlocks every inspector narrative, complete violation codes with regulatory context, severity ratings, repeat-offense flags, and a downloadable PDF for that one breeder; $99.99 lifetime opens the same full report for every facility in our database forever. Whether you pay or not, you see the same data BreederCheck does, the paid layer just gives you the inspector reports in their original detail.

The USDA licenses and inspects several categories of animal facilities. Class A licensees are commercial breeders who sell animals they have bred and raised. Class B licensees are dealers who buy and resell animals from other sources, these are often the middlemen between puppy mills and pet stores. Class C licensees are exhibitors, including zoos, circuses, and educational facilities. Research facilities operating under federal grants also fall under USDA oversight. BreederCheck covers all of these license types, so when you search our database, you will see breeders, dealers, exhibitors, and research labs, each with their own inspection history and compliance grade. Understanding what license type a facility holds can tell you a lot about how they operate.

Buying a pet from a breeder with a history of animal welfare violations can mean bringing home an animal that was raised in substandard conditions, leading to behavioral problems, chronic health issues, and expensive veterinary bills. Puppy mills and negligent breeders often produce animals with genetic disorders, parasites, and untreated illnesses that only become apparent weeks after purchase. Beyond the personal cost, buying from violators financially rewards facilities that cut corners on animal care. A five-minute search on BreederCheck lets you see whether a facility has been cited for overcrowding, inadequate veterinary care, unsanitary conditions, or any of the dozens of other violations USDA inspectors check for. It is one of the simplest things you can do to protect both your family and the animals.