Big news! Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) just introduced the Pigs and Public Health Act (PPHA) in the House of Representatives. This groundbreaking bill aims to reduce the number of downed pigs—those too sick, exhausted, or injured to stand or walk—in the food system by setting standards for care in farms and during transport. It also seeks to protect downed pigs who arrive at slaughterhouses. Backed by Mercy For Animals and the ASPCA, the PPHA would help safeguard public health and spare hundreds of thousands of animals unnecessary pain and suffering.
Representative Escobar and nine other members of Congress initially called attention to this issue in a bipartisan letter, urging the USDA to implement protections for downed pigs in our nation’s food system.
For years congress has failed to support regulations in the U.S. pork industry that ensure safe working conditions and humane treatment of farmed animals. The risk that downed pigs pose to public health continues to be a problem, which is why PPHA is an imperative step in the right direction. The factory farming model as it stands today increases the likelihood of infectious diseases in humans from animal origins. Big agribusinesses that value fast profit over the safety of their workers and consumer transparency are standing in the way of stopping this threat to public health.
—Representative Escobar
The PPHA is the next step in this fight and promotes transparency into the pork industry by requiring public reporting. Highlights of the bill include prohibiting cruel treatment of downed pigs in farms, improving transport conditions, and making sure downed pigs at slaughterhouses are euthanized and not left to suffer for hours. The bill also creates a confidential online portal for agriculture workers (employees and contractors) to blow the whistle on violations of the standards the bill sets and worker safety laws currently in place.
The Risk
The lack of federal regulation is increasingly dangerous, with public health threats like highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African swine fever adapting and mutating. In April, HPAI was first detected in dairy cattle, creating an enormous threat to human health. By June, the disease spread to twelve states, affecting 101 dairy cattle herds and infecting three farm workers. Experts warn that pigs would be an even more dangerous host for HPAI, because pigs have a “track record of hosting flu viruses that jump to” humans. African swine fever, an incurable disease that has plagued pig farms in China for years, has had devastating impacts.
Three in four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans come from animals—all major human flu pandemics can be traced to animal origins. Despite the serious public health risks downed pigs pose, the Food Safety and Inspection Service refuses to address this issue. Frances Chrzan, Mercy For Animals’ Senior Federal Policy Manager:
Mercy For Animals applauds Rep. Veronica Escobar’s (D-TX-16) leadership on the Pigs and Public Health Act to protect pigs and people alike. This influential piece of legislation offers real solutions to the public health threat associated with pigs who are too injured or sick to move.
Downed pigs at slaughterhouses are often “saved for last” and left lying in waste for hours. USDA records describe workers kicking, prodding, shocking, dragging, and beating these animals in attempts to make them stand and walk to the slaughter floor. Requiring downed pigs to be euthanized rather than slaughtered for human consumption would both spare animals such cruelty and reduce risks to human health.
Take Action
Waiting until a public health catastrophe is wrong—we have seen the devastating impacts of diseases emerging from industrial animal agriculture, and we must address the threat downed pigs pose before it is too late.
We are grateful for the collaboration with Mercy For Animals and other advocates who have highlighted these critical issues. We have implemented similar protections in the cattle industry; it’s now time that we take action in the pork industry. PPHA will improve standards, accountability mechanisms, transparency, and information collection.
—Representative Escobar
Urge your representatives to support the PPHA to help get protections for downed pigs into the upcoming Farm Bill and make our nation’s food system safer.
Policy reforms rely on caring and informed people like you to call on their legislators to act. Your elected officials work for you—by using your voice you can make meaningful, important change for farmed animals. Visit MercyForAnimals.org for how you can get involved.
