Senate Passes Downed Animal Act, Sets Up Showdown with House |
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December 9, 2003
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Farm Sanctuary
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Editor's note: On December 9, the Downed Animal Protection Act was stripped from the Agriculture Appropriations bill in a conference committee. Despite this setback, the legislation may still be taken up by Congress when it reconvenes in January, amid concerns about mad cow disease appearing in the United States. Fears about humans contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) from eating tainted meat may spur Congress to move forward on eliminating downed animals from being slaughtered for food.
When the U.S. Senate passed the Downed Animal Protection Act in November, the chamber set up a conference-committee battle with the House, which earlier in the year narrowly defeated an amendment that would protect farm animals who are too weak, sick or injured to stand or walk.
The Senate passed the act on November 5 as an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill; in July, despite 123 co-sponsors, the House did not pass the amendment on its own Agriculture Appropriations bill. The House version failed with a 199–202 vote. S. 1298 and H.R. 2519 are sponsored by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Representative Gary Ackerman (D-NY) respectively.
This means the Senate and House will have to come together in a conference committee to iron out the differences. If they can not agree on a version, the entire bill will die, but because this is an appropriations bill, that is less likely to happen. When the conference committee has agreed on a version, the bill will be presented again to both chamber floors. Both must pass identical versions before the bill can be sent to President Bush for consideration.
If passed and signed into law as part of the appropriations bill, the act will take effect one year after enactment.
Downed animals (also known as "downers") are routinely sent to auctions and packing plants, where they endure cruel handling and neglect. They are often kicked, beaten, shocked, trampled, and dragged with ropes or chains; they are left without food, water, shelter, or veterinary care until they die or are trucked to slaughter. The animals are not euthanized because they are worth more money if they reach slaughter alive.
The Downed Animal Protection Act would prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from approving meat from slaughtered downers. Downed animals would then not be allowed to enter the human food supply. This would create a financial incentive for farmers and handlers to treat their charges better, so that the animals do not become downers in the first place. In addition, downers would have to be humanely euthanized.
There are obvious human health concerns regarding eating meat from downed animals. The single cow in Alberta, Canada that was diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (commonly known as "mad cow disease") was a downed cow. When humans eat meat tainted with mad cow disease, they can develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). As of April 2, 2002 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a total of 125 cases of vCJD in the world. To date, there are no reported cases in the United States.
"While the U.S. Senate passing the Downed Animal Protection Act is a tremendous win for animal advocates, there still is much to do before the law can go into effect," said Dr. Michael Appleby, vice president of The HSUS's Farm Animals and Sustainable Agriculture section. "Precedent has been set with state laws in Oregon, California, Colorado, and Illinois, which protect both animals and humans. Now our Representatives need to follow their lead."
See the Video
Downed Animals
Related Links
U.S. Senate Approves Amendment to Halt Abuse of "Downed" Livestock
Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act
