Capitol Hill Examines Farm Animal Abuses

June 30, 2006

By Loren Drummond

Farm animals took a rare center stage on Capitol Hill at a forum on farm animal welfare, hosted June 29 by the Congressional Friends of Animal Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Seats overflowed in the briefing room as nearly 100 animal advocates and legislative staff packed in to hear a panel of speakers address farm animal welfare concerns in the United States.

The nation raises billions of birds, cows, pigs and other animals for food each year, the overwhelming majority in systematically abusive conditions that offer little or no protections for the animals. The briefing convened to begin addressing that lack of federal protection and to respond to changing attitudes about the way modern industrialized agribusiness treats farm animals.

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Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.), a co-chair of the Friends of Animals Caucus, ran the meeting. He described it as "groundbreaking" and opened by saying, "The way society treats its animals speaks to the core values of its citizens."

A Need for Federal Reforms

Eight expert speakers explored how America's values, health, environment, security and economics are inexorably bound up in the humane treatment of farm animals—despite many current state and federal laws excluding farm animals or customary agricultural practices from basic humane standards. Now, current legislation aims to improve farm animal welfare and protect public health.

Briefing co-chair Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a longtime champion for animal welfare legislation, also attended the briefing. He described the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act, which would compel producers supplying the federal government with animal products to meet moderate animal welfare standards, as "designed to reflect the majority of American opinion." Recently introduced in the House by Reps. Shays and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the bill would improve the lives of millions of factory-farmed animals if enacted.

The Sustainable Alternative

Tom and Sue Renger, Wisconsin family farmers, represent an economically viable model of farming that:

treats animals more humanely than conventional factory farms do;
promotes responsible stewardship of land
contributes to local rural economies; and
supplies a growing market demand.

The Rengers spoke passionately about their way of farming, which draws on traditional farming and animal husbandry practices and employs the motto: "Ethics, Environment, Economics." They explained that their farming model, the alternative to industrial factory farming, is economically sound. "Farmers can make a living off of this ethical and environmental model," Tom Renger testified.

"We enjoy providing a high quality of life to our animals," Sue Renger added as slides of pigs in pasture on their farm provided a stark contrast to other images around the room of animals suffering in intensive confinement inside industrial factory farms.

HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle called for congressional leadership on developing standards in the production, transport and slaughter of animals raised for food. In reference to exemptions in state anti-cruelty laws for farm animals, and to The HSUS's efforts to extend the federal protections of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act to chickens, turkeys and other birds used for food, Pacelle asked, "Why should our moral standards exclude the largest group of animals?"

Pacelle also made the case for establishing a permanent ban on the slaughter of downed livestock—animals too sick or injured to stand or walk on their own—with the Downed Animal Protection Act. Pacelle closed by calling on Congress to push for an animal welfare title in the Farm Bill that is currently scheduled to come before Congress in 2007.

The National Trend

Standing squarely in the way of federal reforms are multibillion-dollar industrial agribusinesses that not only leverage tremendous financial resources, but also aim to keep the public in the dark about their large-scale animal abuses.

"Bad has become normal on today's farms...Citizens are not informed of how these industrialized operations treat their animals," testified Gene Bauston, the president of Farm Sanctuary. "Citizens have no choices."

But, the panel agreed that as word gets out, the demand for sustainable agriculture will only increase. "People want something other than industrial food," said Bauston.

A growing trend towards alternatives to factory farming supports Bauston's statement. Grocery retailers, restaurant chains, universities and individuals are reforming their policies and personal eating habits because of concerns about farm animal welfare.

"We believe that eating is a moral act," said Brother David G. Andrews, CSC, of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. Andrews' testimony reflected not only the views of his faith and its leadership in Rome, but also the results of two national polls conducted in 2003, each of which found that the welfare of animals raised for food registers as a majority concern among Americans.

That groundswell of support, concluded Shays and Moran, will be key to any public policy reform that sets standards for improving the lives of billions of animals in agriculture. Individual choices, actions and voices will drive public policy.

Loren Drummond is editor of www.hsus.org.

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