Farm Animals

The nearly 300 million egg-laying hens in our country live in cages that afford each hen just 67 square inches of space—smaller than a sheet of paper. That’s outrageous!

Last year, a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives introduced a bill in the House promising egg-laying hens better living conditions. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), along with senators from both sides of the aisle, recently introduced a companion measure in the Senate. This important bill needs your support!

The Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 would increase the amount of space given to laying hens (they’re currently so cramped that most cannot even stretch their wings), and allow them to do some of the things chickens love doing: perching, dust-bathing and nesting. Plus, various inhumane practices would be banned. This is a major step forward! The bill would also require that egg cartons disclose the standards under which the eggs were produced so consumers know what they’re buying.

Take Action!
This bill is a common-sense measure supported by the United Egg Producers, the American Veterinary Medical Association and various consumer and animal welfare groups, including the ASPCA. And right now, our nation’s hens need your support, too. Please contact your senators today and ask them to co-sponsor S. 3239 to provide better lives for egg-laying hens!

Guest blog post from Suzanne McMillan, ASPCA Director of Farm Animal Welfare

Nine out of 10 land animals killed for food in the U.S. are poultry. Unfortunately these chickens, turkeys and other birds have no protection under federal animal welfare laws—not even during slaughter.

Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) wants to allow faster line speeds in poultry slaughterhouses. From an animal welfare perspective, this raises red flags: We all know that when you rush, mistakes happen. Workers need to be as careful as possible when handling live birds to ensure proper procedures are followed.

Please let USDA know that you have concerns about this proposed rule. Please take action today and ask them to consider the effects of their proposal!

Guest blog post from Suzanne McMillan, ASPCA Director of Farm Animal Welfare

As many of you know, animals raised on factory farms often receive antibiotics in order to remain healthy in an otherwise harmful environment as well as to promote growth. But there are dangers involved for both humans and animals! Antibiotic resistance in humans is a very big concern, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been under increasing pressure to do something about it.

Last week the FDA finally responded, releasing three documents addressing the use of antibiotics in livestock. While it’s great that the FDA is acknowledging a problem, these documents are extremely disappointing. Producers are simply asked to voluntarily curb their use of antibiotics, and pharmaceutical companies are asked to voluntarily stop labeling certain antibiotics as useful for livestock growth. All of this despite a federal court ruling just last month that ordered FDA to stop relying on voluntary programs to curb the use of certain antibiotics. Further, these programs focus only on using antibiotics for growth promotion—not on the similarly common practice of feeding animals antibiotics to prop up their already weak immune systems.

The coalition Keep Antibiotics Working, of which the ASPCA is a member, calls the FDA’s new plan an “inadequate response” and urges it to, at the very least, establish “an enforcement mechanism and timeline” for achieving the voluntary protocols it proposes. 

For more information on the ASPCA’s efforts to help farmed animals, please visit our Farm Animal Cruelty section.

Ed Sayres, ASPCA President & CEO

Americans overwhelmingly believe that food from our farms should be safe to eat and that farm animals should not be abused for its production. So it is disturbing that legislators in a number of states throughout the country are considering—and passing—legislation known as “Ag-Gag” bills that would cripple the ability of investigators to expose animal abuse and food safety concerns. Many Ag-Gag bills criminalize taking photos or videos on farms to expose problems such as animal cruelty, environmental and labor violations, and other illegal or unethical behavior. Simply put, Ag-Gag legislation poses a danger to the American public as well as to animals.

Four years ago, undercover video led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history. The video, taken at Hallmark Meat Packing Co. in Chino, California, revealed workers at the slaughter plant kicking sick cows, ramming cows with the blades of a forklift, and torturing crippled cows to force them to walk to slaughter. In that case, the slaughterhouse that was shut down was also the second largest beef supplier to the National School Lunch Program, so these irresponsible and inhumane acts endangered the health of scores of American schoolchildren.

Legislators bent on suppressing exposés through the passage of Ag-Gag legislation are not only harming animals, but putting all of us—including our children—in jeopardy by preventing our access to critical information about our food supply. They also threaten our constitutional rights by stifling dissemination of information and chipping away at our First Amendment protections.

It’s ironic when you think about it. The individuals targeted by Ag-Gag laws are not the criminals who are beating or stabbing animals (as seen on some undercover videos). Instead, the bills would punish the whistleblowers, the people who dare to lift the veil on these oft-hidden cruelties. The language in the bills varies somewhat state to state, but in many cases the penalties for exposing cruelty may be harsher than those for the actual commission of cruelty. In a number of states the proposed legislation would prevent documenting not only the abuse of farm animals, but also could prohibit investigations of puppy mills and dog racing.

Lawmakers who support Ag-Gag bills do so because they are accommodating the agribusiness lobby, not because it is in the interest of their constituents. In fact, a recent national poll by Lake Research Partners found that 71% of Americans support undercover investigative efforts to expose farm animal abuse on industrial farms.

According to the Lake Research poll, opposition to Ag-Gag legislation is steadfast across demographic, geographic and partisan lines. A majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree that banning undercover investigations is wrong. Likewise, a majority of respondents in all regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) oppose the criminalization of undercover investigations at farms. No matter the demographics, Americans don’t want to be deemed criminals for exposing wrongdoing.  

Twenty-seven national organizations and experts—from animal welfare groups to civil liberties, public health and workers’ rights associations—have united to oppose Ag-Gag bills. These groups, including the ASPCA, have signed a letter stating, in part:

. . . These bills represent a wholesale assault on many fundamental values shared by all people across the United States. Not only would these bills perpetuate animal abuse on industrial farms, they would also threaten workers’ rights, consumer health and safety, and the freedom of journalists, employees and the public at large to share information about something as fundamental as our food supply. We call on state legislators around the nation to drop or vote against these dangerous and un-American efforts.

Ag-Gag laws are an affront to many values Americans hold dear. If you live in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee or New York, you should be especially concerned since Ag-Gag laws are now pending in your state legislatures.  Please contact your legislators to let them know that Ag-Gag laws are dangerous for people and animals.