Investigation Sheds Light on Suffering
In the summer and fall of 2005, Born Free USA (then API) and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) carried out a landmark investigation into the transport of live farmed animals throughout the United States — uncovering shocking conditions and long days and nights of grueling travel. The investigation documented the transport of live cows within the United States and the transport of pigs from the U.S. to Mexican slaughterhouses.
Protections for transported farmed animals are desperately needed, as revealed in undercover footage and eyewitness testimony gathered by the Born Free USA/CIWF investigation.
Investigators documented animals arriving at and proceeding through auction with broken legs, infected eyes, foaming mouths, and bleeding cuts and sores. Dead and downed animals were also seen at the auctions. In addition, investigators filmed the unloading of "cull sows" (mother pigs from factory farms) destined for slaughter. Many of these pigs had difficulty walking, having spent nearly their entire lives in confinement.
The U.S. has on the books a law, known as the 28-Hour Law, requiring that livestock transported across state lines in "rail carriers, express carriers, or common carriers" be humanely unloaded into pens for food, water, and at least 5 hours of rest every 28 hours. However, this law is rarely, if ever, enforced.
Even if the 28-Hour Law were enforced, it would not be adequate to assure the well-being of transported animals. The 28-Hour Law falls far short of the 9-hour transport/12-hour rest period being proposed in Europe, and is seriously deficient when compared to the 8-hour transport limit being proposed as an international standard by Born Free USA, CIWF, and others.
