Purpose: Requires the federal government to purchase animal products derived from animals raised using methods that “promote animal welfare.”
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Status: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, and the Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture.
Action: SUPPORT. Please contact your U.S. Representative and urge him or her to support H.R. 5557. Tell your Representative that farmed animals deserve the modest guidelines set forth in this legislation.
Talking Points for your letter:
- H.R. 5557, the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act, will require that anyone seeking to sell meat, dairy products, and eggs to the federal government — including the military, federal prisons, school lunches, and other programs — meet basic animal welfare standards.
- More than 10 billion farmed animals are raised and slaughtered in the United States annually, but there are no federal laws or regulations regarding the way animals are raised on the farm. This has allowed the terrible abuses inflicted by the factory farming in the U.S., where animals are treated like production units and intensively confined with no concern for their welfare.
- H.R. 5557 is very moderate and the basic animal welfare principles outlined in it would require that producers supplying the federal government provide farm animals with adequate shelter and space, daily access to food and water, and adequate veterinary care. It would not allow producers who sell their products to the federal government to starve or force-feed animals, leave sick or injured animals to linger without treatment or humane euthanasia, or confine animals so restrictively that they are unable to turn around and extend their limbs or wings.
- A 2003 Gallup poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans “support passing strict laws concerning the treatment of farm animals,” and a 2003 Zogby poll found that nearly 70 percent of Americans find it “unacceptable” that farm animals have no federal protection from abuse while on the farm.
- Americans are demanding that farmed animals be treated more humanely. As a major buyer of farm animal products, the federal government can and should help to lead the way, by encouraging more humane practices.