USDA Reverses Decades-Old Policy on Farm Animal Transport |
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September 28, 2006
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More than 50 million farm animals will be helped by the
change in position at USDA. |
In an animal welfare victory affecting more than 50 million farm animals, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reversed its longstanding position of excluding farm animals from protection during long-distance truck transport. Nearly one year after The HSUS and other animal protection organizations challenged the position, the agency responded, publicly declaring that farm animals transported by truck are protected under the nation's first federal animal welfare law.
Humane Organizations Challenge Legal Loophole, and Win
In October 2005, The HSUS, together with Compassion Over Killing, Farm Sanctuary, and Animals' Angels, filed a legal petition for rulemaking with USDA, asking the agency to close the Twenty-Eight Hour Law loophole in the interest of safeguarding animal welfare and public health.
In 1873, Congress understood the harrowing effects of long-distance transport on animals and passed the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, requiring that for every 28 hours of interstate transport, animals must be offloaded, provided food and water, and given at least five hours of rest. Since USDA interpreted the law to exclude trucks—the method used to transport more than 95 percent of all farm animals—it effectively rendered the law meaningless.
At the end of September 2006, USDA answered the legal petition—and stated that trucks are indeed "vehicles" and covered under the law.
In its response to the legal petition filed by the humane organizations, USDA concluded that "[w]e agree that the plain meaning of the statutory term 'vehicle' in the Twenty-Eight Hour Law includes 'trucks' which operate as express carriers or common carriers."
USDA also noted that it is working to investigate "alleged violations of the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, and is currently investigating a shipment of breeding pigs from Canada to Mexico"—an investigation spurred by the strong concerns of The HSUS after more than 150 pigs transported via trucks in excess of 28 hours were found dead after arriving at a Brownsville, Texas, livestock export facility in July. The animals had died either during the journey or while left confined in trucks for an additional two to three days in sweltering 95-degree heat. The HSUS asked both state and federal officials to investigate the case.
Major Policy Change Is a Victory for Millions
The agency's decision to require trucks to adhere to the Twenty-Eight Hour Law marks a sea change in the agency's treatment of long-distance farm animal transport. In a 1997 publication titled Cattle and Swine Trucking Guide for Exporters, USDA informed the livestock industry that the Twenty-Eight Hour Law "applies only to rail shipments." Likewise, a 1995 Federal Register Notice issued by the USDA states unequivocally, "The Twenty-Eight Hour Law does not apply to transport by truck."
The livestock industry has also resisted the application of the Twenty-Eight Hour Law to trucks. In September 2006, in testimony before Congress, the National Pork Producers Council claimed that the law was "enacted to deal with the movement to slaughterhouses of cattle by train" only and strenuously opposed the "extension" of the Twenty-Eight Hour Law to truck transport.
As described in the organizations' legal petition, more than 50 million of the nearly 10 billion farm animals transported by truck every year must endure trips far in excess of 28 hours without food, water or rest. A 2005 Compassion Over Killing undercover investigation of long-distance pig transport found numerous cruelties, including dead animals left on trucks for more than 30 hours, animals enduring extreme heat without food or water, and animals suffering from a variety of injuries, including bruises, abrasions, and bleeding lacerations on their bodies, legs and ears.
See the Video
28 Hour Petition
Related Links
Animal Protection Litigation Section
Loophole on Wheels: Trucks and the 28-Hour Law
In Re: The HSUS, et al. (Twenty-Eight Hour Law)
Death of Approximately 150 Pigs in Texas Highlights USDA's Refusal to Implement Federal Humane Animal Transport Law
