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The Farm Bill Must Address Critical Animal Welfare Needs
Dear Representative,
As your constituent and someone who cares about the welfare of animals and protecting them from suffering, I am deeply concerned that the Farm Bill is likely to harm more animals than it helps. The bill attacks state protections for farm animals, puts dogs in puppy mills at even greater risk, and fails to address the horse slaughter crisis.
The Farm Bill gives Congress the rare chance to improve farm animal welfare and help our nation transition to a more humane food system, and it also presents an opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands of dogs suffering in puppy mills and finally end the inhumane practice of slaughtering American horses for human consumption.
Before passing this Farm Bill, I urge you to:
Remove the existing language that makes it harder to help animals urgently in need of care. The House Farm Bill does not offer “enhanced protections for dogs under the Animal Welfare Act,” as sold by the Agriculture Committee. It actually weakens the minimal protections in current law. Instead of watering down the law, the House should include Goldie’s Act—a bill named after a Golden Retriever who, like many other dogs, suffered and died because of the USDA’s failure to intervene. We need the USDA to enforce the law so that dogs don’t suffer and die.
Oppose the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417)—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 farming practices, and prevent states from passing new laws in the future. The House Farm Bill infringes 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 bipartisan Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475), which enjoys the support of more than half of the House of Representatives, is included in the Farm Bill. The SAFE Act would simply expand the Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition Act, which passed as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, to include equines, to prohibit the cruel slaughter of horses in the U.S. and end their export for slaughter. 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, so I urge you to take this opportunity to improve the welfare of millions of animals and help build a more humane food system.
The Farm Bill Must Address Critical Animal Welfare Needs
Dear Senator,
As your constituent and someone who cares deeply about the welfare of animals and protecting them from suffering, I am writing to urge you to include provisions in the Farm Bill that would improve the lives of animals.
The Farm Bill not only gives Congress the rare chance to improve farm animal welfare and help our nation transition to a more humane food system, it also provides a critical opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands of dogs suffering in puppy mills and finally end the inhumane practice of slaughtering American horses for human consumption.
I urge you to:
Maintain critical language supporting the transition to a more humane and resilient food system. The Senate Farm Bill framework includes essential provisions that allocate conservation funding to support farmer transitions away from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to more climate-friendly farming systems (comparable to S. 5176, the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act) and require annual, public reporting on farm animal depopulation. These are major steps towards building more resilient, higher-welfare farming systems and creating much needed transparency in consolidated industrial agriculture.
Vigorously oppose the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (S. 2019)—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 farming practices, and prevent states from passing new laws in the future. Including any version of the EATS Act in the Farm Bill would infringe on states’ rights while ignoring the will of voters, all to maintain large industrial agriculture’s advantage over independent, higher-welfare farmers in the marketplace.
Support adding the bipartisan Goldie’s Act (S. 4033) to the Farm Bill. Goldie’s Act provides basic and essential oversight to protect animals housed in USDA-licensed facilities,including dogs in puppy mills. Named in honor of a Golden Retriever who, like many other dogs, was left to suffer and die at a USDA-licensed puppy mill, this legislation would require the USDA to conduct frequent and meaningful inspections, provide lifesaving intervention for suffering animals, issue penalties for violations, and timely communicate with local law enforcement to address cruelty and neglect.
Support adding the bipartisan Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (S. 2037) to the Farm Bill. The SAFE Act would simply expand the Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition Act, which passed as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, to include equines, to prohibit the cruel slaughter of horses in the U.S. and end their export for slaughter. 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 important opportunity to improve the welfare of millions of animals help build a more humane food system.
The Farm Bill Must Address Critical Animal Welfare Needs
Dear Representative,
As your constituent who cares about the welfare of animals, supporting higher-welfare farmers and building a more humane food system, I am extremely disappointed that the House Agriculture Committee advanced a Farm Bill that attacks state protections for farm animals, puts dogs in puppy mills at even greater risk, and fails to address the horse slaughter crisis.
The House Farm Bill does not offer “enhanced protections for dogs under the Animal Welfare Act,” as sold by members of the Agriculture Committee. It actually weakens the minimal protections in current law. Instead of watering down the law, the House should include Goldie’s Act—a bill named after a Golden Retriever who, like many other dogs, suffered and died because the USDA’s failure to intervene. We need the USDA to enforce the law so that dogs don’t suffer and die.
The bill also includes language based on the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417), which threatens countless state and local laws already in place, including widely popular bans on the cruel confinement of farm animals in cages and crates. This harmful provision infringes 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. The EATS Act in any form is irresponsible and harmful and has no place in the House Farm Bill.
And the bill fails to include the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475), critical legislation to prohibit the slaughter of American horses and their export abroad for slaughter, despite being cosponsored by more than half the House and supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans from all political affiliations. By putting an end to the cruel and unnecessary practice, the House has the opportunity to protect horses, their owners, and the horse industry as well.
Any version of the Farm Bill that attacks state protections for animals, does not ensure dogs in puppy mills are humanely cared for, and does not end horse slaughter is a bill that is too harmful to support. As the Farm Bill moves forward, I am counting on you to lend your voice and vote to ensure that these important issues impacting millions of animals are all addressed before the bill is signed into law. Thank you for your consideration.
Thank You and Please Continue Fighting to Protect Dogs in Puppy Mills
Dear Representative Nunn,
As your constituent who cares about the welfare of animals, I am writing to thank you for speaking up for dogs in puppy mills—like Goldie—by highlighting the USDA’s poor enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act.
Raising awareness of this important issue is the first step to making meaningful change. I am deeply concerned, however, that the Farm Bill weakens the law and does not require preventative measures. We don’t want USDA to wait until dogs are suffering to take action. As the bill moves forward, I urge you to keep fighting to protect these animals by removing the existing provisions in the Farm Bill that would make it harder to aid animals urgently in need of care.
In their place, I urge you to continue your work to include Goldie’s Act in the bill to require the USDA to utilize its enforcement authority—like conducting frequent inspections, keeping an accurate record of violations, and issuing deterring penalties against violators. All of these pieces are critical to halting cruelty in its tracks and will help avoid fatal consequences for animals. Meaningful coordination with law enforcement can only be achieved if the USDA does its part in taking swift action to curb and prevent animal suffering.
Please Protect Horses by Including the SAFE Act in the Farm Bill
Dear Legislator,
As your constituent and a supporter of equine welfare, I am writing to urge you to support inclusion of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475/S. 2037) in the Farm Bill. This legislation will finally end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption simply by adding equines to an existing, uncontroversial law passed in the 2018 Farm Bill that banned the slaughter of dogs and cats for meat.
An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose horse slaughter - a cruel, unnecessary and predatory industry that has no domestic market and hinders legitimate equine welfare efforts. The continuation of this cruel business also strikes constant fear in the hearts of horse owners, who worry that their trusted equine friend, athlete or work partner might be stolen or fall into the wrong hands and meet such a fate. Horses have not been slaughtered legally in the U.S. for human consumption since 2007, thanks to Congressional action to prohibit taxpayer dollars from propping up this inhumane and unnecessary practice. Yet, tens of thousands of horses continue to be exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter each year, when we could instead either find new homes for them in the U.S. or provide them with compassionate humane euthanasia if that is what is necessary.
We need the SAFE Act to put an end to this shameful chapter of American history. Animal protection is a priority for me, and I would appreciate you doing all that you can to ensure the SAFE Act is included in the Farm Bill.