Last month we celebrated a win for animals with the Supreme Court of the United States upholding California’s Proposition 12. This has not stopped the pork industry from continuing their fight against laws that protect farmed animals from practices that are standard in the industry yet egregiously cruel. Having lost in court, the industry has sent its lobbyists to Congress to push for federal legislation not only to undo Proposition 12, but potentially any state sales regulation that may address animal welfare or a host of other concerns.
The legislation the pork industry is pushing Congress to implement is called the “Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression” (EATS) Act, which is designed to wipe out any state laws that ban the cruel confinement of egg-laying hens, mother pigs, and baby veal calves. The passing of this bill would not only be disastrous for farmed animals, it could also pave the way to wiping out hundreds of other protections against extreme cruelty to animals such as the abuse of dogs in puppy mills, killing of animals for the wildlife trade, and painful experimentation on animals for cosmetic testing.
The horrifying consequences of the EATS Act don’t stop with concerns for animals. Other state laws are at risk too, including protections against pesticide application on fields, arsenic in food, lead poisoning, chemicals in baby food containers, and child labor, as well as pollution standards for spraying sewage on crops and flammability standards for cigarettes. This bill impacts not only animals, but people too.
How YOU can help
Please make a brief, polite phone call to both your U.S. Senator and your U.S Representative to ask them to oppose the EATS Act*. Their phone numbers can be found by clicking here. An example of what you can say is “As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the Marshall/Hinson ‘Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression’ (EATS) Act that could repeal hundreds of state laws and have devastating consequences for animals and people."
*Please note: there is another bill pending in Congress known as the “EATS Act of 2023,” which is short for the “Enhance Access to SNAP Act of 2023.” That bill is not related to the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression Act. Please be specific when you call your Senator and Representative that you are asking them to oppose the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression Act.
Thank you so much for standing with us as we fight to protect farmed animals.
With gratitude,
The Animal Outlook Team
P.S. You can help animals today by leaving them off your plate. Click here for recipes and tips on living more compassionately.
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