Target: Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader of the United States Senate
Goal: Demand stricter regulations on line speeds at slaughterhouses to protect farm animal, worker, and consumer welfare.
High-speed slaughter systems pose serious threats to farm animal welfare, as well as consumer and worker health. Faster line speeds make it more difficult for slaughterhouse workers to abide by humane treatment, stunning, and handling regulations, subjecting animals to greater risks of abuse. Some chicken slaughterhouses allow 175 birds to be killed per minute, while many pig farms have no speed-related regulations, and workers can kill as many animals as they can get their hands on.
During the pandemic, meat processing plants became hotspots for Covid-19, with more than 57,000 meatpacking workers having tested positive for the virus. The failure of meat corporations to provide employees with proper safety equipment and social distancing guidelines combined with line speed increases administered during the Trump era administration proved hazardous for workers’ health.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has justification over line speed legislation. Slaughterhouses are constantly requesting increases in line speed regulations, as the more animals that are killed the more profit they will yield. The Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act has been reintroduced to both the House and Senate as a way of counteracting slaughterhouse interests. If passed, this law would require the USDA to suspend all current and future increases in line speeds at meat and poultry establishments, thus prioritizing the safety of frontline workers, consumers, and animals over the greed of large meatpacking corporations.
Sign this petition to demand Congress pass the Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act and do more to uphold the welfare standards of farm animals, meat-processing plant workers, and consumers.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Schumer,
Legislation encouraging methods of high-speed slaughter are extremely misguided, as the dangers of high-speed slaughter systems much outweigh the benefits. Faster lines increase the likelihood of animal welfare violations, as they make it more difficult for workers to follow proper animal care and handling procedures. As a result, animals may be improperly stunned before being slaughtered and left conscious during the entire painful process. The speed at which these lines move also make room for greater errors in food sanitation laws, such as an increased probability of food contamination.
Meatpacking workers also suffer as a result. During the pandemic, these processing plants became hotspots for Covid-19, and over 57,000 individuals contracted the virus due to the failure of large corporations to provide their employees with adequate safety equipment and guidelines. Instead, all these companies seem to care about is killing the most animals in the least amount of time. Recently, the reintroduction of the Safe Line Speeds in COVID-19 Act to the House and Senate has emerged as a possible reprieve for animals and workers impacted by high-speed slaughter. The suspension of all current and future increases in line speeds at meat and poultry establishments would instate much needed protections that are currently lacking today.
We are asking you, Mr. Schumer, to prioritize the welfare of animals, workers, and consumers over the profit of meat and poultry corporations, and to enact the Safe Line Speeds Act.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Thomas Bjørkan
Part of this change needs to come from the consumer. We in general should eat less meat and if we do it should not come from a supplier that uses factory farms. The animals suffer immensely in these crowded unsanitary conditions where they are treated horribly. People need to rethink where their food comes from and start making better choices.
How about stop eating meat altogether doesn’t matter how they are all were treated with good animal welfare standards. Getting shot in a head by a family member isn’t as humanly as getting shot in by a criminal. You still die for no reason at all.
These poor animals have feelings and should be treated as humanely as possible under these horrific conditions. It’s become a money issue and there is no regard for the suffering animal. The FDA should be after these slaughter houses by making regular inspections to Make sure the animals are treated humanely.
Quit eating meat!!!
Exactly Joyce!
How can you be treated humanely as possible when you’re on death row? what about stop eating meat altogether there are alternatives anyway you’re giving them money to kill animals that did nothing wrong to us.
Put an end to it.
Sad Schumer only cares about himself and how much money he can make screwing of the people of America. Oh power don’t forget the power.
Killing animals in a mass mechanized fashion is unethical and inhumane.
Target: Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader of the United States Senate
I Demand stricter regulations on line speeds at slaughterhouses to protect farm animal, worker, and consumer welfare.
I am so proud i have been a vegetarian since a small child . I love animals and find the idea of eating them so gross and cruel.
You guys need to get off your high horse and stop blaming Trump for the actions of others. During the Trump administration things went a lot better than with the idiot that’s an office now. As far as the farm animals that we use for consumption there has always been a problem there it is always been talked about the way they are treated the inhumane way they’re killed at speeds that it just unacceptable. Animals that we use for food should be treated with a little bit more care and not be crowded in stalls or cages where there’s no room to move where they’re walking around in their own feces that’s disgusting no wonder why the amount of viruses and or sick people especially the ones at work around these animals Turn up. These petitions are a good thing but corporate America turns her nose up at these petitions and still continues to do business as usual. Their main and only go is money they don’t give a crap how these animals are treated or the amount of people that come up sick
You are right. Nobody needs meat, it causes cancer in the bowel and animals deserve a nice life
This is disgusting.
Do your damn job & STOP this disgusting practice
ANIMAL MEAT FACTORIES // SLAUGHTERHOUSES — are beyond obscene, disgraceful & shameful — GO VEGAN — moreover, they’re unconscionably cruel — give me a moment to hurl — GO VEGAN — GO VEGAN
No person should eat meat, we are not cave people, it is barbaric, please don’t eat meat, you will be healthier if you don’t as meat causes cancer . Animals are not here to be used by humans