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1 Legal Protections for Animals on Farms 1 (2018)

handle is hein.animal/lgpranf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE Lea Prtcin frAias o am TABLE OF CONTENTS i Federat Laws Stt Laws z nimal Crue~t~aue 4 Enforeemento- Stat 5 L-ngthening a 8 ret gF BaLtot [ntati - I Their Relation tc iiral Cruelty Laws raPottion Throu Am P1t on 12 uJ I ~ a r P d i d tryS Stadads 6 t nat andards ?8OhrRports in This Series Nine billion land animals are raised and slaughtered for food in the United States each year, yet the laws protecting these animals are strikingly limited. The absence of legal protections for farm animals allows producers to keep them in inhumane conditions with a poor quality of life. Throughout a majority of their short lives, farm animals are closely confined and deprived of the chance to exhibit natural behaviors. Common practices on factory farms include confining pregnant pigs to crates so small they cannot turn around, confining hens to cramped, barren cages, castrating male pigs without anesthesia, and killing sick and injured animals with blunt force. Producers utilize these practices in order to maximize productivity and profits. FEDERAL LAWS No single federal law expressly governs the treatment of animals used for food while on farms in the United States. In fact, these animals do not have legal protections until they are transported off the farm., Even then, poultry, which account for 98 percent of animals raised for food, do not fall under the protection of the few federal laws that apply to livestock. For example, both the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, the latter of which regulates when animals must be given food and time to rest during transport, exclude poultry. Moreover, the federal Animal Welfare Act4 a law providing minimal standards of care for certain animals exempts farm animals, except those used in research. To date, all federal efforts to change the legal status quo for farm animals have failed. For example, in 1989, Rep. Charles Bennett (FL-3) introduced the Veal Calf Protection Act in the House of Representatives. The bill, which aimed to limit the use of tiny veal crates that prevent calves from turning around or lying down, was referred to the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry, but never went before the full House for a vote.' Federal legislators also tried to pass a law in 2oo8 prohibiting cruelty to farm animals, but the bill only attained six cosponsors and, after being referred to the subcommittee, received no hearing. In 2oio, Rep. Diane Watson (CA-33), backed by animal advocacy groups, introduced a bill intended to prohibit the federal government from procuring food products from animals not given enough room to freely extend their limbs. While this bill had 40 cosponsors, it, too, was not given a hearing by the subcommittee. * PAGF

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