Our Monthly Accomplishments and Update
October-November 2023

Summary

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture made final new rules for farm animals raised under the “organic seal”—a legally binding designation putting first-ever farm animal welfare rules in federal law.
• In the wake of the passage of our landmark FDA Modernization 2.0 (December 2022), animal use in labs is dropping. Charles River Laboratories, a supplier of animals to labs, reported that its use of non-human primates has dropped 25% in 2023. The FDA, though, is delaying a revamp of regulations governing drug screening in wake of passage of the FDA Modernization Act. We are working with lawmakers to push the FDA to speed up the transition away from animal testing.
• In issuing a final rulemaking action, the Department of the Interior asserted that the use of lead ammunition in sport hunting is a serious threat to wildlife. But its action plan phases out lead ammunition on just eight national wildlife refuges—an action step incongruent with its declaration that spent lead produces mass poisoning of eagles and more than 130 other species.
• After we posted it on our channel, YouTube ordered a take-down of a video from Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt lauding a front group for cockfighters. After the removal by the social media giant and our organizing of influential Oklahomans condemning Stitt’s statement—which generated worldwide media attention—the governor recanted his pro-cockfighting stance. It was a signature moment in our effort to forge a national political consensus on animal fighting.
• The EATS Act—which would repeal key farm animal protection laws such as Prop 12—is in political jeopardy after we persuaded 16 Republicans to add their voices to the chorus of more than 200 lawmakers already on record against it. The group of 16 said it is at odds “with our foundational Republican principles of states’ rights, national sovereignty, and fair competition.”
• With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly endorsing a ban in Canada on live export of horses for slaughter, we asked President Biden to make a commitment in the United States, and were joined by actress Katherine Heigl and horse-racing industry leaders. If he does so, he’ll support Congressional action to pass the SAFE Act as an amendment to the 2024 Farm bill.

CAGE-FREE FUTURE
First-ever federal farm animal welfare standards now in place
We applauded the federal government’s release of its final Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) rule—a regulatory regimen that for the first time in federal law establishes specific legal standards for at least 60 million animals used in production agriculture.

The farm-animal welfare standards will apply to animals raised under an “organic standards” regimen, assuring consumers that the animals raised on organic farms are not immobilized in cages or crates, subjected to routine mutilations, denied access to pasture for meaningful periods of their lives, or otherwise treated in ways inimical to their well-being. This is an eagerly awaited rule, with two decades of delays from USDA and interference from factory-farming interests. Animal Wellness Action president Wayne Pacelle identified the national significance of the final action after working on the issue for a quarter century.

TAKE ACTION: Ask your representative and senators in Congress to oppose the EATS Act by clicking here.

MODERNIZE TESTING
Lab animal use falls even as FDA delays Modernization Act rulemaking
The infamous laboratory animal breeder Charles River Laboratories noted in its recent shareholder call that its use of non-human primates has dropped 25% in 2023. That’s happening even though the FDA has still not revised its archaic regulations that require animal-testing.

“FDA’s regulations related to animal testing no longer fully conform to applicable law,” wrote five Republican and four Democrat Senators in a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. The sluggish and even obstructionist actions by the FDA come after Congress demonstrated uncommon unanimity in passing the FDA Modernization Act almost a year ago. The new law has spurred more than 330 news articles, commentaries, scientific reviews, and primary papers focusing on the innovations in science to improve drug screening with methods grounded on human-based biology.

The animal-testing mandate has been catastrophically bad in forecasting the human reaction to experimental drugs, with a documented 90-95% failure rate. The cost of repeated failures in preclinical testing delays drugs getting to market, impedes the development of preventions and cures for millions of patients, and drives up drug prices to make them unaffordable for many Americans. Animal Wellness Action and its partners wrote to the FDA Commissioner in August asking him to institute a rulemaking action to address the inconsistencies between the new law and the old regulations. Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy are working on a follow-up measure to the FDA Modernization Act to accelerate the practical use of alternative methods.

READ MORE: Visit our dedicated microsite, Modernize Testing, to learn more about our work to modernize the FDA.

GET THE LEAD OUT
Fish and Wildlife Service condemns lead ammo while timid on practical action
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule indicating that the “best available science” reveals that “lead ammunition and tackle have negative impacts on both wildlife and human health.” But the agency is phasing out lead ammunition over three years on just eight national wildlife refuges, while allowing sport hunters to leave behind tons of lead on hundreds of other refuges that will kill animals from 130+ species. The eight refuges are Blackwater, Chincoteague, Eastern Neck, Erie, Great Thicket, Patuxent Research, Rachel Carson, and Wallops Island national wildlife refuges. All refuges, except Chincoteague, will also phase out lead fishing tackle.

More than 500 peer-reviewed studies showed detrimental effects on wildlife, including a continent-wide effect on bald and golden eagles. A study, released in January 2022 in Science, determined that up to 47 percent of eagles had “bone lead concentrations above thresholds for chronic poisoning” and a third of eagles had “acute [lead] poisoning.” Fragments of lead ammunition in the remains (so-called “gut piles”) of hunted animals are having population-level effects on eagles, according to our statement.

TAKE ACTION: Go here to ask your legislator to cosponsor the LEAD Act to stop the use of lead ammunition in wildlife refuges.

ANIMAL FIGHTING IS THE PITS
Oklahoma Governor Stitt now says he opposes cockfighting and attempts to weaken state law against staged animal fighting
No major elected official in America should endorse animal fighting, and with that principle in mind, we condemned Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt for releasing a video to “cheer them [cockfighters] on from the sidelines” and to work with them to advance their legislative priorities in 2024 to decriminalize cockfighting in the Sooner State. Big names in Oklahoma politics and sport—former Republican Governor Frank Keating, Attorney General Drew Edmondson, and legendary Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer—joined us in urging the governor to stop giving support to these criminals.

It was headline news in The Oklahoman and the Tulsa World, but also got major billing in the New York Post, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, Daily Beast, and The Hill when YouTube removed the governor’s video because it violated the company’s community standards promoting cruelty to animals. NonDoc got the governor’s team on record that he opposes cockfighting and any effort to weaken the state’s voter-approved law. (We reposted the video on another site. You may watch Gov. Stitt’s controversial statement here.)

Our work to pass the FIGHT Act in Congress and to work with law enforcement to interdict illicit animal fighting operations continues. The FIGHT Act has more Republican cosponsors than any other animal welfare bill in Congress and creates a private right of action against animal fighters, enhances forfeiture of property for convicted animal fighters, and bans shipping roosters through the U.S. mail. More than 350 agencies and organizations endorse the legislation.

TAKE ACTION: Go here to urge your legislators to cosponsor the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act!

CAGE-FREE FUTURE
EATS Act on the ropes
In yet one more showing of broad opposition to the EATS Act in Congress, 16 Republican House Members sent a letter to the leaders of the House Committee on Agriculture, urging them not to include the provision in the Farm bill. Reps. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., David Valadao, R-Calif., Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. led the letter, which brings the total to more than 200 lawmakers who have explicitly signaled opposition to the measure.

The EATS Act was a default maneuver by the National Pork Producers Council after the trade association lost an enormously consequential challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court to Prop 12 and other state anti-farm-animal-confinement laws.

We continue to make the case that Prop 12 is the right policy and that the pig industry has diversified its operations over the last 20 years and is amply prepared to provide more humanely raised pork to California and Massachusetts right now. We’ve also made the case that the EATS Act is an attack on American elections and that it will hurt thousands of farmers who have invested in more animal-housing systems and planned on accessing the revamped markets in California and Massachusetts. China will be the biggest beneficiary if EATS were to pass, given the Communist government controls more than a quarter of the U.S. pig industry. China has already built several massive high-rise factory farms in that country and may try the same here if EATS passes.

TAKE ACTION: Go here to contact your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose the EATS Act.

IN THE STABLE, NOT ON THE TABLE
Katherine Heigl, horse racing leaders join effort against horse slaughter
Actress Katherine Heigl joined us, along with several leading horse racing organizations, in sending a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to fight against live exports of thousands of American horses for slaughter for human consumption. Our action was triggered by favorable action from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in calling for an end to Canada’s role in exporting draft horses to Japan for slaughter. Both North American leaders should be aligned on this issue.

Meanwhile, nearly 200 lawmakers have cosponsored federal legislation to ban horse slaughter, and we are working to include that bill as an amendment to the Farm bill that should pass Congress in 2024. The SAFE Act comes just months after we partnered with Animals’ Angels on a North American investigation documenting that the extraterritorial slaughter of American horses is rapidly waning but still a merciless journey for around 20,000 American horses a year. New York State is poised to join California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Texas in banning horse slaughter for human consumption, underscoring that big border states want to end the live export of horses for slaughter to Canada and Mexico.

WANT TO HELP? Use this form to easily tell your elected officials in Washington you want them to support the SAFE Act.

For the animals,

Wayne Pacelle President Animal Wellness Action