USA: Urge Congress to Protect Animals in the Farm Bill

U.S. Farm Bill

ASPCA Position: Support Pro-Animal Provisions

Congress is working on the long-delayed Farm Bill, a huge piece of legislation that identifies national agricultural priorities and reaffirms the responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), impacting farm animals, companion animals, and horses. This bill also dictates how our food and farm systems operate and how funding is allocated, which means that it has the potential to improve or worsen the lives of animals, people, and the environment.

Congress can choose to include language from pending federal bills into the Farm Bill — this is where we need your help. To build a better world for animals, there are two critical bills that Congress must include and one terrible bill we’re fighting to keep out of the Farm Bill. Learn more about each bill and take action below!

❌EATS Act—Terrible for Animals, Food Safety, Farm Workers, and the Environment✔️Goldie’s Act—Helps Prevent Puppy Mill Cruelty✔️SAFE Act—Bans the Slaughter of America’s Horses

What You Can Do

Please use the form below to send a pre-drafted message to your members of Congress, urging them to pass a Farm Bill that reforms our farming system and reflects Americans’ concern and compassion for billions of animals.

Advocacy Alert

View message.

Your Message

Subject Line: The Farm Bill Must Address Critical Animal Welfare Needs

Dear Lawmaker,

Message

As your constituent and someone who cares about the welfare of animals, I am eager for a Farm Bill that will increase protections for billions of vulnerable animals and prevent mass suffering.

The Farm Bill gives Congress the rare chance to improve farm animal welfare and help our nation transition to a more humane food system. It also presents an opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands of dogs trapped in cruel puppy mills from inhumane treatment and finally end the inhumane practice of slaughtering American horses for human consumption.

I urge you to:

- Support the inclusion of language that would ensure the USDA protects animals under its care and oppose language that would make it harder to aid animals in urgent in need of help. The purpose of the Animal Welfare Act is to ensure humane care and treatment of animals in federally licensed facilities. This law should be strengthened--not weakened--so that innocent animals, like dogs in puppy mills, don’t suffer and die.

- Oppose the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act--or any variation of that bill--in the Farm Bill. The EATS Act is a dangerous overreach of federal power that would eliminate existing state and local animal welfare laws, including widely popular bans on cruel confinement of farm animals, and prevent states from passing new laws in the future. Including language based on the EATS Act in the Farm Bill would infringe on states’ rights while ignoring the will of voters, all to give unfair advantage to large industrial agriculture instead of independent, higher-welfare farmers in the marketplace.

- Ensure that the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, which enjoys significant bipartisan support, is included in the Farm Bill. The SAFE Act would permanently prohibit the cruel slaughter of horses for human consumption in the U.S. and end their export for that same purpose abroad. This legislation is supported by at least 83% of Americans and is urgently needed to protect horses, their owners, and the horse industry itself.

- Animal protection is a major priority for me, and I urge you to take this opportunity to improve the welfare of billions of animals and help build a more humane food system.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

Your Information

Salutation *

Alternate Salutation

Most elected officials’ constituent email systems accept a very limited set of salutations. Please select the one you would most prefer.

First Name *

Last Name *

Address *

Apt./Unit

City *

State *

Zip Code *

Phone Number *

Email Address *

Yes, sign me up to receive text messages from the ASPCA*

Yes, the ASPCA may use my phone number to call me

E-mail Opt-in

Yes, I would like to receive email from ASPCA

We submit your correspondence through officials' contact forms and therefore must provide the information that they require. They may contact you by email or phone in response to your message.

Leave this field blank

* By opting in, I agree to receive periodic text messages from the ASPCA. Text STOP to opt-out, HELP for more info.

Message and data rates may apply. Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy