April 2008: Take Action to Support the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act
Every year, countless thousands of factory-farmed animals are crippled by injury or illness due to their unnatural, stressful living conditions and become unable to stand or walk. Once these animals become downed, their lot only worsens.
For the sake of profits, downed animals are commonly tortured-shocked, beaten, dragged with chains, or even pushed by forklifts-to move them to slaughter. Attempting to quiet public concern over mad cow disease, the USDA recently banned the slaughter of downed cattle for human consumption. But due to several loopholes in their regulations, the abuse of downed animals continues.
Though the USDA prohibits the slaughter of downed cattle, it fails to stipulate the immediate, humane euthanasia of these animals. This means that many slaughterhouses will simply drag or bulldoze crippled cattle to "dead piles," where they languish and slowly die alongside other suffering cattle. The USDA's ban also does not apply to animals other than cattle, meaning that downed sheep, pigs and goats continue to be tormented before and after reaching the kill floor.
At the federal level, the Downed Animal Protection and Food Safety Act (H.R. 661, S. 394) has been introduced to ensure that "downers" will be kept out of the human food supply. This bill will remedy the shortcomings of current USDA regulations regarding downed animals by requiring the immediate, humane euthanasia of all animals who become nonambulatory.
You Can Help!
Contact your federal senators and representative today and politely urge them to co-sponsor and strongly support the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act (HR 661 and S 394). Look up the names and contact information for your U.S. representative and your two U.S. senators at www.Congress.org.
Making a phone call to your legislators is fast and easy! Simply call the number for you legislators and ask to speak with the legislative staff person who handles agriculture issues. Whether you speak to the staffer directly, or leave a message, simply say,
"Hi, my name is (your name). I am a constituent of the representative/senator and I live at (address). I am calling to urge the representative/senator to co-sponsor and strongly support the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act, HR 661 / S 394. Can you tell me what the representative's/senator's position is on this issue? Thank you for your time."
Then follow up with a quick e-mail. Feel free to include some of the talking points below.
Please tell us what you find out from your legislators. This information helps Farm Sanctuary know who we need to lobby harder to make positive changes for the animals. Contacting your legislators is only one part of the equation. Assessing their position on farm animal issues is another. Whenever you call, write to 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 on issues that need the most urgent attention. 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 farm animals!
Contact your state legislators and ask them to consider introducing legislation to protect downed animals from cruel treatment. Look up the names and contact information for your state legislators at www.vote-smart.org.
TALKING POINTS
Downed animals are routinely dragged with chains or pushed with tractors or forklifts. Handlers may drag animals by their tails or ears, or use electroshock prods and other implements to force downed animals to stand or drag themselves along.
To be used for human food, animals must be kept alive until they are slaughtered. For this reason, downed animals awaiting slaughter often suffer for hours or days at a time without veterinary care. Further, rendering companies that make scheduled visits to farms to pick up dead animals generally prefer to purchase carcasses of newly-dead animals, thereby furthering the industry's motivation to keep downed animals alive. Requiring the immediate euthanasia of downed animals would remove the profit motive and eliminate unnecessary, prolonged suffering.
Industry experts estimate that 90 percent of the incidences of downed animals could be prevented through better care and better transportation and handling methods. Requiring humane euthanasia for downed animals would provide a strong incentive to ensure the health of livestock during all stages of production, and to prevent them from becoming downed in the first place.
Food Safety Concerns
Meat from downed animals is more likely to be unfit for consumption. It has an increased risk for bacterial contamination and diseases, including neurological afflictions such as BSE, also known as mad cow disease. Of 15 cases of BSE documented in North America, 13 were found in downed cattle.
USDA records show that downed animals afflicted with gangrene, malignant lymphoma, pneumonia, or other serious illnesses have been approved for human consumption by the agency.
Public Opinion
A 2003 Zogby Poll of likely voters found that that 77 percent consider it unacceptable that downed animals are being slaughtered for human consumption.
The Cost of Downed Animals
Because "downers" represent a tiny fraction of livestock brought to market, banning their slaughter would have a minimal economic impact, especially if measures were taken to reduce the incidence of downed animals in the first place. Meanwhile, benefits to animal welfare and consumer health would be substantial.
Please contact Farm Sanctuary at campaign@farmsanctuary.org or 607-583-2225, ext 229 if you need guidance or model bill language to present to your state legislators.
No Downers Campaign
Support NEW federal legislation to help downed animals! Support the Downed Animal Enforcement Act of 2008. Read More
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