We recently emailed you about an important opportunity to protect animals and workers, and lessen food safety risks at slaughterhouses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When we contacted you, the U.S. House of Representatives was considering the Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act to prevent the USDA from speeding up killing lines at meat and poultry plants. Since that time, the bill has gained support and was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate. Farm Sanctuary supports this legislation along with allied animal protection, labor, food justice, and consumer organizations.

Increasing slaughter line speeds puts animals at greater risk of intolerable suffering, such as being dismembered or boiled alive while still conscious. It also intensifies worker stress and injuries, and heightens the threat of contracting and spreading coronavirus.¹ Since mid-March, meat and poultry establishments have become COVID-19 hotspots.² Over 30,000 meatpacking workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 100 have died.³

Please send a message to your elected representatives today. Ask them to cosponsor and support the Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act (H.R.7521 / S.4338) to help protect animals, workers, and the safety of our food system.

Urge your representative and senators to support the Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act here.

Sources:
1. COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities―19 States, April 2020, Weekly (May 8, 2020) https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6918e3.htm?s_cid=mm6918e3_x (last visited July 10, 2020)
2. Lakhani, Nina, US coronavirus hotspots linked to meat processing plants, (May 15, 2020). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/15/us-coronavirus-meat-packing-plants-food
3. Douglas, Leah, Mapping Covid-19 outbreaks in the food system (last updated July 9, 2020) https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants/ (last visited July 10, 2020)