Less than three months after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) banned "downed" cattle (animals suffering immobility due to injury and/or illness) from being consumed, the cattle industry has initiated a federal bill, H.R. 4121, misleadingly named the "Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004," which seeks to allow downed cattle back into the human food chain. This ill-conceived bill, which blatantly undermines USDA's commonsense and long overdue ban, would allow the consumption of cattle unable to stand or walk due to "fatigue, stress, obdurator nerve paralysis, obesity, or one or more broken or fractured appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, or dislocated joints."

Citing extensive data from other countries, USDA states that downers are at significantly higher risk of having BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or "mad cow disease") than other cattle. USDA also asserts "downer cattle infected with BSE often cannot be found by looking for the typical clinical signs associated with BSE, because the signs of BSE often cannot be differentiated from the signs of the many other diseases and conditions affecting downer cattle." Case in point, the cows detected with BSE in Canada and the U.S. were identified as non-ambulatory due to calving injuries, pneumonia, and a broken leg.

H.R. 4121 recklessly suggests USDA inspectors can distinguish between diseased and injured downers, and by encouraging the consumption of downed animals, it poses a direct threat to human health. H.R. 4121 also exacerbates animal cruelty since downed animals are often in pain and cannot be moved gently. Rather than being brutally prodded, pulled, and pushed to the kill floor, these animals should be humanely euthanized for their sake and for our own health and morality.

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The Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966 to prevent the sale of companion animals to laboratories for experimentation, yet dogs and cats obtained through illegal means continue to be sold for research purposes. On April 26th, the Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 2346) was reintroduced by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) in an effort to finally achieve this important objective. The legislation will prohibit the sale of dogs and cats to research facilities by random source animal dealers such as C.C. Baird (see article).

USDA licensed Class B dealers are a "cottage industry," aggressively collecting dogs and cats from "random sources" in order to sell them to laboratories for $500 or more each, and they are notorious for their failure to comply with the federal Animal Welfare Act. Some of the animals purchased by random source dealers have been stolen or obtained through deception by individuals responding to "free to a good home" advertisements. Most animals are obtained out of state, making it very difficult for anyone missing a companion animal to locate their dog or cat at the dealer's facility. Thankfully, this is a dying business as there are only 17 Class B dealers still in operation in the U.S., and of these, seven are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. It is time to reduce the number of these dealers to "0". Please help by asking your Senators to co-sponsor S. 2346.

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Senator and veterinarian John Ensign (R-NV) and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have introduced S. 2352, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, a companion bill to H.R. 857. The legislation has bipartisan support, and we're pleased to report that 224 Members of the House of Representatives (a majority of the House) have cosponsored H.R. 857.

As we reported in the last AWI Quarterly, Bo Derek has joined the effort to ban horse slaughter. She returned to Washington, DC, along with film legend Tony Curtis and his wife, Jill, to lobby in support of the pending bills. The Curtis' have a special understanding of the issue because they operate Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary near Las Vegas, NV, where horses rescued from killer-buyers are cared for, re-trained, and adopted to good homes.

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The Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Steve Williams, recently offered the following thought about the May 8, 2004 celebration of International Migratory Bird Day in the United States: "Perhaps more than anything, International Migratory Bird Day is a reminder that wildlife does not recognize political or geographic boundaries. Migratory birds offer a compelling reminder that conservation transcends the borders of human society." Why then, one might ask, is the U.S. Congress rushing through legislation to facilitate the slaughter of 94 species of migratory birds in America?

Currently, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibits the capturing, killing, transporting, or selling of certain migratory birds that have been listed in Conventions signed between the U.S. and Mexico, Japan, (former) Soviet Union, and Canada.

H.R. 4114, the "Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act of 2004," would exclude from protection birds that are not "native" to the United States-birds that are here solely because of human-assisted reintroduction. If the species was not here prior to 1918, it could lose federal protection. This is a completely arbitrary and unscientific distinction that could doom scores of birds.

Among the birds species that would lose protection are the yellow-billed cardinal and nicobar pigeon, both protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); the great white pelican and sarus crane, both protected under the Convention on Migratory Species; and the red-breasted goose and blue-headed quail-dove, both listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

These birds and many others appear to be paying the steep price for one Maryland Congressman's distaste for mute swans. Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, author of this misdirected legislation, decries the alleged impact that these swans have had on the environment in the Chesapeake Bay. But according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, it is just as likely that waste run off from intensive chicken factories and sewage treatment plants in the area do greater damage to the surrounding habitat.

Interestingly, a recent 2001 court case specifically declared mute swans protected under the MBTA. Legislators in Washington, DC, often decry judges who seem to "legislate from the bench." With H.R. 4114, a handful of Members of Congress appear determined to don black robes and overturn a court case through legislation.

In the end, H.R. 4114 undermines the essential spirit of the original Act and the Migratory Bird Treaties it implemented: that the U.S. should do its part to ensure that birds are protected along the entirety of their migratory routes, including throughout America. It would be shameful if other nations were going to great lengths to protect a bird, while here at home we allowed them to be killed indiscriminately. The legislation does not endeavor to understand which, if any, migratory bird species affect their environment negatively, nor does it assess what impact removal of certain species will have on their ecosystem. Under the bill as it stands birds that have been settled here for more than 80 years could lose their protection.

Members of the House of Representatives and Senate must not rush to judgment on the fate of 94 species of birds to appease one Congressman who wants mute swans out of Maryland. On May 5, 2004, the bill was approved by the House Resources Committee. We hope it goes no further.

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