Newsletters: May - June 2007
Farmed Animal Transport in the United States
By Paul Rutkovsky
Most of us have seen those large transport trucks careening down the highway, packed with farm animals. But not many of us know that the business of transporting farm animals is oftentimes cruel and inhumane. A peak inside these trucks may disclose an unsettling scene: creatures with broken legs, infected eyes, foaming mouths, bleeding cuts and sores, or worse.
A pig born in a factory farm (a building where animals spend their lives in stalls so small they are unable to take a step forward or backward) may be shipped for hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles. For example, born and artificially reared in North Carolina at a farrowing operation, they may then be transported to nursery or grower/finisher facilities in Iowa where they are fed to market weights, then moved again to California for slaughter. Increasingly, pigs are transported down to Mexico where they are slaughtered and processed cheaply due to lower labor costs. They are then re-exported back north across the border as pork products for American consumption.
Investigators documenting the unloading of "cull sows" (mother pigs from factory farms) have filmed these animals arriving at the slaughterhouse. Distressingly, the films show that many of these pigs can hardly walk, having spent nearly their entire lives in confinement.
Over 50 million hogs are transported every year across state lines. These long distance trips for "fattening" and "slaughtering" take a toll on all animals, especially hogs. Many arrive injured or dead at the slaughterhouse. Each year, approximately 80,000 hogs die during the transit process.
Cattle become stressed, injured, and exposed to disease during transport and movement through auctions as well. In the United States, it is estimated that 1 percent of feedlot cattle die as a consequence of transport stress. One study estimates that for every 1,000 cattle entering feedlots, 12 die.
There are laws in the United States prohibiting long distance transporting of animals without water and rest. The so-called 28-Hour Law requires that livestock transported across state lines in "rail carriers, express carriers, or common carriers" be humanely unloaded into pens for food and water and at least five hours of rest every 28 hours. This law, however, is rarely enforced. Even if the 28-Hour Law were enforced, it is severely inadequate, especially when compared to the proposed European 8-hour transport limit.
It is time for the United States to adopt internationally-recognized standards such as those put forward by the OIE, a reputable world organization for animal health. The OIE is composed of representatives from 164 different countries and is recognized by the World Trade Organization as the leading authority on animal health.
Long-distance transport of farmed animals across the United States and over its borders should not be tolerated. The pain and suffering these animals endure is inhumane and should stop. We can make a difference by supporting legislation aimed at regulating farmed animal transport and encouraging grocery stores to purchase only from local producers.
All facts came from the Animal Protection Institute's web site. For a more complete understanding of farmed animal transport go to: http://www.api4animals.org/
