Veterinarians press Congress to preserve state animal welfare laws
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More than 700 US veterinarians are asking Congress to leave out an industry-backed provision from the Farm Bill that would preempt states from having stricter animal welfare laws than other states.
The provision — often referred to as the “Save Our Bacon Act” — was included in the House draft Farm Bill released in May, but was omitted in the Senate draft released last month. The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation renewed roughly every five years that guides the federal government’s food and farm policy. The House provision that preempted those state laws has garnered broad support from meat industry associations that argue such state laws increase consumer costs and hurt farmers.
The measure specifically targets two state laws — California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3. Both require that hogs, calves and chickens that are on confined farms or sold in the states are raised with adequate room to turn around, lie down and extend their limbs.
The letter, sent Monday to Senate and House leaders and Agricultural Committee chairs in both chambers, urges members to reject any Save Our Bacon Act language in the final Farm Bill text. The Senate is expected to mark up the bill prior to its August recess.
“This harmful legislation would strip states and localities of their rights to pass a wide range of measures protecting animal welfare and public health,” they wrote. “While the debate over Prop 12 is misleadingly being framed as California vs. the Heartland, states across the country, including Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Florida have also banned the extreme confinement of female pigs.”
“This harmful legislation would strip states and localities of their rights to pass a wide range of measures protecting animal welfare and public health.”
The veterinarians specifically pointed to the use of gestation crates by some hog farmers. The metal cages are often so tight around the animal that they cannot turn around or move much.
“Gestation crates severely harm female pigs. As pigs grow during pregnancy, the crate bars press against their bodies, which can lead to sores, injuries, prolapse, and infections,” they wrote, adding that the animals can also suffer muscle weakening, compromised cardiovascular health and mental distress from the cages.
Industry groups have pushed the Senate to include some form of the Save Our Bacon Act in the final bill. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) — which has led opposition to California’s Proposition 12, including spearheading a legal challenge that landed at the Supreme Court that upheld the legality of Proposition 12 — said in a statement released after the Senate Farm Bill draft that such state laws create “a patchwork of state animal housing laws that hurts small farmers the hardest,” and increase the cost of food.
“America’s pork producers will continue to advocate for a Prop. 12 fix in the formal farm bill like our livelihood depends on it — because it does,” said NPPC president Rob Brenneman in a statement.
Some veterinarians disagree
Not all veterinarians agree with the letter sent Monday. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians, for example, have also pushed Congress to include provisions in the Farm Bill that will preempt Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3. In an April statement, the group said that there’s no single housing system that is optimal in all situations, adding that “scientific literature consistently shows that both individual stalls and group housing can support positive animal welfare outcomes when managed appropriately.”
The veterinarians that sent a letter to lawmakers, however, say the state laws not only improve animal health and welfare but help reduce food safety threats and zoonotic diseases.
“For all of the reasons above, the “Save Our Bacon Act” and any measure like it should be rejected and not included in the Farm Bill or any other legislative package,” they wrote.
The letter comes a week after a US district judge allowed a meatpacking company’s lawsuit against California over Proposition 12 to proceed on the ground that it violates the federal Commerce Clause.
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