Possible messages

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.