Dear Humanitarian:
When you see “USDA Certified Organic” on a meat, egg or dairy label, it seems reasonable to assume that the animals were raised under a program with high welfare standards. But that assumption is false. Current organic regulations devote only a few, very vague sentences to how animals are to be housed and treated. This has led to confusion and inconsistency among organic farmers; too often, when it comes to animal welfare, there is little difference between conventional and organic production.Thankfully the Livestock Committee of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is trying to address the problem by recommending changes to the regulations governing physical alterations and space requirements and proposing new regulations on handling, transport, and slaughter. The recommendations are certainly a good start, but they fall short of creating a comprehensive animal welfare program for certified organic operations.
For example, the recommendations ban debeaking of chickens and tail docking of pigs and cattle, but place no limits on dehorning. And although, for the first time, minimum space requirements are being proposed, the amount of space allowed for growing pigs is no better than what is recommended by the National Pork Board for conventional industry production (i.e., factory farming).
WHAT YOU CAN DO:Until April 10, NOSB is accepting public comments on two sets of proposed animal welfare standards. Please take a couple of minutes to write to the Board to encourage it to strengthen the recommendations before they are forwarded on to the USDA. You can submit comments here by filling out the required contact information and either entering your comments directly on the form or attaching a separate document.To assist you, a sample comment is provided below. You can simply copy and paste the sample comment, but putting it in your own words will help give your comment more weight – just be sure to stay under the 2,000-character limit. And please mention if you are a regular consumer of organic products and/or an organic farmer. Sample CommentI am writing to comment on the Livestock Committee’s “Animal Welfare” and “Animal Handling, Transport, and Slaughter” proposals. The NOSB is to be commended for addressing the welfare of animals raised under the organic program. While the proposed recommendations represent a good start toward creating a comprehensive animal welfare program for organic production, several important changes are needed:1. The painful practice of dehorning should be prohibited. If disbudding is allowed, pain relief should be provided.2. Minimum weaning ages for mammals should be added.3. The proposed minimum space allowances, both indoor and outdoor, for growing pigs are seriously inadequate and offer no improvement over conventional production.4. Transport under 7-10 days of age should not be allowed except for medical treatment and, in addition to cattle, this prohibition should apply to other ruminants and pigs as well.5. The transport limit of 12 hours should be lowered to 6 hours for birds.6. Non-ambulatory animals should never be transported off the farm for sale or slaughter, and animals who go down during transport or at the slaughterhouse should be promptly and humanely euthanized. Making these modifications will lessen animal suffering and help bring organic standards closer to what consumers expect of the label. The Livestock Committee’s goal of making the organic seal “the gold standard” for humane treatment is commendable but can only be realized if the current recommendations are strengthened.
To submit your comment online, click here.To submit your comment via mail, send to: Ms. Patricia Atkins
National Organic Standards Board
USDA-AMS-NOP
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 2646-So, Ag Stop 0268
Washington, DC 20250-0268
Identify docket number AMS-NOP-11-0014 on your comment and ensure that it is received by April 10. Please be sure to share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends, and co-workers, and encourage them to submit a comment, too. As always, thank you very much for your help!
Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President
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