June 2023: Animal Law Updates

Every month, One Green Planet reports on major issues in animal law. Typically this column focuses on litigation—most recently a landmark victory in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld California’s Proposition 12. But this month, the most pressing legal issue facing animals is the EATS Act: federal legislation that Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA) introduced in the 117th Congress, and which they will likely reintroduce very soon. At the risk of sounding alarmist—a constant risk, given how often society endorses unthinkable cruelty to animals—the EATS Act presents an existential threat to maintaining, let alone advancing, legal protections for animals. I’d go as far as to say that if you want to do just one thing this month to help animals, call or write to your representatives in Congress and tell them you oppose the EATS Act. (And be clear that you are opposing the “Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression Act,” not this EATS Act, which is about access to SNAP benefits).

Some Background: Why State Laws Matter for Animals

State laws matter for animals because federal laws (more or less) do not.  Consider, for example, that the Animal Welfare Act, which provides the broadest federal protections for animals in the United States, does not apply to farmed animals.  Congress only designed two federal statutes specifically to protect farmed animals: the Twenty-Eight Hour Law (which sets protocols for animals transported long distances) and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (which regulates how animals can be killed).  Neither law protects any farmed animals unless they are being transported or slaughtered.  Neither law applies to the vast majority of farmed animals: birds and fish.  And both laws are woefully under-enforced.  Indeed, even on their face, these statutes are painfully impotent.  The aptly-named Twenty-Eight Hour Law, for example, prohibits transporting certain animals for over twenty-eight hours without a break.  Put differently, keeping animals in the back of a truck for twenty-seven straight hours is lawful under the Act.

What would the EATS Act do?

The EATS act, as proposed, would make it nearly impossible for states to impose their standards or conditions on agricultural production if they affect production in other states.  Instead, states would need to defer to the regulations set by (1) the federal government and (2) the states where production occurs.

To show how extreme this position is, imagine, for example, that New York wanted to pass a law prohibiting the sale of fish from companies that purposely torture fish confined in their aquaculture facilities.  If the federal government has no laws protecting fish kept for aquaculture, and the state of Georgia likewise has no laws protecting the fish in its aquaculture facilities, then New York likely couldn’t pass its “no torturing fish” law.

If this concept of state regulation is sounding oddly familiar, that’s because the litigation over California’s Prop 12 has made a lot of headlines recently.  Prop 12—which the Supreme Court just upheld against a challenge from the pork industry—currently allows California to ban the in-state sale of pork that comes from pigs whose mothers were confined in gestation crates.  This remains true even if companies raise and slaughter pigs in other states, like Iowa, because California can, as a default, decide which products it wants (or doesn’t want) in its marketplace.  But if Congress passes the EATS Act, Congress would wipe out Prop 12 along with thousands of other state laws.  According to the Humane Society of the United States, these state laws could include those addressing: “abuse of dogs in puppy mills, killing of animals for the wildlife trade and painful procedures used on animals for cosmetic testing . . . pesticide application on fields, arsenic in food, protection against lead poisoning, chemicals in baby food, Pollution standards for spraying sewage on crops, flammability standards for cigarettes and child labor.”

So, again, please reach out to legislators and tell them you oppose the EATS Act.

For previous Animal Law Updates, be sure to check out:

• May 2023: Animal Law Updates
• April 2023: Animal Law Updates
• March 2023: Animal Law Updates
• February 2022: Animal Law Updates
• January 2022: Animal Law Updates
• A Look at 2022’s Biggest Moments for Animals in Court

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!