Animal Care

ISSUE

The American Farm Bureau Federation acts to educate Congress on animal rights groups, their strategies and their goal of ending animal production for food.

AFBF is also a source of information about the potentially devastating economic impact of attempts to restrict animal production, and the facts and economic contributions of animal agriculture to the U.S. economy and quality of life of consumers.

AFBF is one of the organizers of the Farm Animal Welfare Coalition (FAWC), an ad hoc coalition of national livestock and livestock-input organizations. This effort, key to congressional successes in the 109th Congress, recognizes the need for agriculture to speak with a single voice to the government when supporting or opposing legislation or regulation on livestock and poultry production.

FAWC will continue to expand its role, with a long-term goal to provide ongoing information and assistance to state organizations and individual producers. The AFBF and FAWC animal welfare mission is to educate key audiences on the animal rights issue, as well as provide tools to assist in state and local animal rights legislative and regulatory challenges.

BACKGROUND

Legislative, regulatory and legal attempts by animal rights activists to restrict livestock and poultry production and processing are increasingly dedicated and sophisticated. An administrative petition was filed in July 2005 to force USDA to apply the so-called “28-hour rule,” an 1873 law governing the “humane” movement of cattle by train, to all species and contemporary transportation. A lawsuit, filed in November 2005, seeks to force USDA to apply the same standards of humane slaughter to poultry as exist for cattle, swine and other species under the federal Humane Slaughter Act. During the November 2006 general elections, several states saw animal production-related ballot initiatives, most dealing with confinement production practices.

LEGISLATIVE STATUS

In the 110th Congress, legislation has been introduced in the House(H.R. 503) and Senate (S. 311) to make illegal the processing of horses for human consumption and the export of horses for slaughter. Legislation (H.R. 661/S. 394) has also been introduced to ban all non-ambulatory livestock from the human food supply. During consideration of the 2007 Farm Bill, there will be an attempt by animal rights groups to include these and other legislative and administrative animal rights initiatives.

On the proactive side, the AFBF-supported Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (S. 3880) was enacted in November 2006. This legislation broadens federal law enforcement authority and increases federal penalties for animal rights and eco-terrorist attacks on animal facilities, including farms, ranches, processing plants and retail outlets.

AFBF POLICY

We support the right of farmers to raise livestock in accordance with commonly accepted agricultural practices.

We support vigorous enforcement fines and/or reimbursement for animal research lost and all costs and damage incurred, when farms or research facilities are willfully damaged. We oppose legislation and regulations which would prohibit or unduly restrict the use of animals in research.

We are opposed to the concept of animal rights and oppose the expenditure of public funds to promote the concept of animal rights. We support the proper treatment of animals. We oppose laws or regulations elevating the well-being of animals to a similar status as the rights of people. We oppose initiatives, referendums or legislation that create standards above sound veterinary science and best management standards.

We support the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 and urge all states to adopt similar statutes.

We oppose legislation that would give animal rights organizations the right to establish standards for the raising, marketing, handling, feeding, housing or transportation of livestock, horses, poultry, aquaculture, fur-bearing, and canine animals. We oppose any laws which would mandate specific farming practices in livestock production.

We support legislation and rulings that allow the sale, possession and transport of horses intended for processing; domestic ownership, control and location of equine processing facilities; and funding for Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors in facilities that slaughter horses.

We oppose the passage of the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act or similar legislation, and any regulations that prohibit the harvest of equines.

September 2007