A series of reports on poor animal welfare in the US led to a major article in Life magazine in 1966. Public opinion was particularly galvanized by the case of a pet dog that was stolen from her owners in Pennsylvania and later died during an experimental surgery at a hospital in New York. Thus catalyzed, and spurred by the efforts of Representative Joseph Y. Resnick, Congress created the Animal Welfare Act (1966), which named the USDA the responsible agency. It inspected animal use facilities, but did not inspect or regulate individual laboratories.