Downed Animal Protection Act
S. 1298 & H.R. 2519

Sponsors: Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)

NM co-sponsors: Rep. Tom Udall

APV position: SUPPORT

Bill Status: S. 1298 has been referred to the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
H.R. 2519 has been referred to the House Agriculture Committee, Livestock and Horticulture Subcommittee
*The House approved a downed animal amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill but the House-Senate conference committee stripped the amendment. *
** In response to the first case of “Mad Cow” disease found in the US—in a downed cow—the USDA has enacted a policy barring non-ambulatory animals from being slaughtered for human consumption.**

What the law would do. The Downed Animal Protection Act directs the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations to provide for the humane treatment, handling, and disposition of nonambulatory livestock by a covered entity, including a requirement that nonambulatory livestock be humanely euthanized. The law provides that an entity shall not move nonambulatory livestock while such livestock is conscious and humanely euthanize such livestock. It also prohibits an establishment covered by the Federal Meat Inspection Act to pass nonambulatory livestock through inspection.

Why it is needed: The law will help curtail some of the most egregious abuses inflicted upon farmed animals, by modifying the agriculture industry's treatment of "downed" animals—those who are too sick or injured to walk or even stand. Right now these animals are routinely dragged, electrically shocked, beaten, dragged with chains and even bulldozed to move them to slaughter. The Downed Animal Protection Act would prohibit downed animals from entering the food supply—thereby creating a financial incentive for farmers to treat animals more humanely, so that they do not become downed in the first place. It will also protect public health, since animals who are too sick to walk may be victims of “Mad Cow Disease” or other illnesses that could endanger people. The Downed Animal Protection Act is a good first step in acknowledging both humane concerns and public health concerns within the farming industry.