Don't Let Congress Undo State and Local Animal Laws

[Guest guest]

Please act on HSUS plea (below) to contact your US Representative today!

 

Don't Let Congress Undo State and Local Animal Laws

 

Dear Friend,

 

Some of our most important victories for animals have been state laws barring

cruel practices such as horse slaughter, confining young calves and breeding

pigs in crates so small they can't even turn around, and force-feeding of ducks

and geese to make foie gras.

 

Should Congress be able to block all such laws? Tell your federal legislators

NO!

 

The federal government shouldn’t be able to trump the will of the states

when it comes to animal welfare. Yet that's exactly what legislation now making

its way through Congress would do. A small provision " Section 123 " tucked into

the pending Farm Bill would prohibit states and localities from banning

activities they deem

to be contrary to public health, safety, or morals. It's an outrageous power

grab that would undermine the democratic process and deny citizens the right to

pass state or local laws on issues of humane treatment or food safety.

 

If passed, this provision would nullify bans on horse slaughter in states

including Illinois, Texas and California, bans on gestation crates in Florida

and both gestation and veal crates in Arizona, and bans on foie gras in

California and Chicago. Tell Congress not to mess with state and local animal

protection laws!

 

TAKE ACTION

 

Please take a moment to make brief, polite phone calls to your federal

legislators about this issue. You can reach your federal legislators by calling

the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or go to

 

https://community.hsus.org/humane/leg-lookup/search.html

 

to find their Capitol office phone numbers.

 

Making a phone call is easy. You will speak to a staff person who can take your

message and pass it along to your legislator. You can say:

 

" Hello, my name is [your name] and I'm a constituent from [your town and state].

I'm calling to urge [your legislator's name] to oppose any effort to preempt

state and local laws through the Farm Bill. I'm very alarmed about Section 123

of the pending House Farm Bill, which would prevent states and localities from

passing laws to protect animals from inhumane treatment and to protect food

safety. When citizens decide a practice is too cruel or dangerous to allow in

their state, Congress has no business forcing them to allow it. Thank you. "

 

After you make your calls, please send a follow-up email to further encourage

your legislators to keep this dangerous provision out of the Farm Bill. Go to

 

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_farmbill/nza38t3te

to send your emails.

 

Finally, please tell your friends and family about this important issue and ask

them to help. We need lots of calls and letters flooding Congress right away to

stop this awful legislation. You'll find a form that helps you send the alert on

to friends at

 

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_farmbill/forward/nza38t3te

 

Thank you for all that you do for animals!

 

Sincerely,

 

Mike Markarian

Executive Vice President

The Humane Society of the United States