Get Involved

Action Alerts & Updates

Cloning of Animals for the Livestock Industry

In mid-January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a ruling permitting the use of cloned animals for human food. Although the FDA asked that producers voluntarily maintain a moratorium, the agency clearly gave a green light to industry use of cloned animal progeny.

This decision flies in the face of what many animal protection and consumer advocacy groups, as well as the public, have long lobbied against.

The FDA has chosen to favor industry interests while disregarding the 70% of Americans who have spoken out against cloning. At a time when the American public is increasingly concerned with factory farming's effect on animal welfare and the environment, the FDA has blatantly omitted consideration of the impact cloning has on animals and opened the doors for more reckless expansion of factory farming and agribusiness.

Cloning is another mechanism by which to treat animals as production units rather than living, feeling and breathing beings. According to cloning studies, only five percent of cloning attempts are "successful" (even in the most optimistic scenario, no more than 20-30 percent of cloning attempts will succeed), and those who do survive, commonly suffer from deformities, stillbirths, heart, kidney, and liver disorders. The surrogate mothers used in cloning research often suffer from fetal overgrowth, repeated surgeries and pregnancy complications that have resulted in death.

Animal cloning is ethically and morally unsound-and once the technology gains a foothold, there is no turning back. And unlike drugs approved by the FDA, cloned animal products cannot be recalled. Neither the FDA nor the USDA plan to label cloned animal products.

Act Now

Several states introduced legislation to mandate labeling for cloned animal products (pending legislation) and while many states have not advanced these bills, there is still federal legislation which you can act on.

Your voice and those of your neighbors, friends, family and coworkers are important. Please act on this critical issue today!

Contacting your legislators is only one part of the equation. Assessing their position on farm animal issues is another. Whenever you call, write or visit with your elected officials, let us know what happened. This feedback is vital, as it allows us to make the most of our resources and focus our energy. Sharing your feedback couldn't be easier. Just fill out this form, and detail your experience-a little information can have a massive impact, leading to positive change for the animals!