Humane livestock treatment addressed by laws

By JULIET BRISKIN | Staff writer

This cute, and curious, goat peers through the fence at the No Harm Farm, north of San Antonio. The farm takes in abused and neglected livestock. -- Staff photo by Briskin

July 1 ,2004 -- Recent media reports have once again brought to light the cruel reality some animals experience at the hands of humans. Cases like Melissa Dawn Sweeney's, a woman in Houston who was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three days with only bread and water for leaving two horses without food or shelter outside her home for over four months, can shock and disturb citizens - including agriculture producers.

Both federal and state laws have been enacted to enforce the humane treatment of the four-legged and winged creatures that provide food, transportation, and companionship to humans in this country.

In 2001 Texas lawmakers passed a tougher animal cruelty law but actual prison time for offenders has not become much of a reality. Texas law defines animals as "cruelly treated" when they are tortured, seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or caused to fight with another animal.

"The laws are very, very bizarre," stated Alice Sarmiento with the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (HSPCA). "It is amazing to me the decisions people make whether or not to pass some of these laws or to revoke laws. I mean bestiality is not illegal in Texas and and what is really scary is that it used to be. They actually took the law off the books in the mid-1970s."

A dairy cow is the "guide" assistant to a blind steer (left) housed at the farm. Livestock that has been abused or neglected are taken in by the farm, which is part of the Wildlife and Rehabilitation sanctuary. -- Staff photo by Briskin

According to Sarmiento, it is a felony in Texas to severely neglect an animal, abandon or dump an alive, injured animal or force animals to fight one another.

"Unfortunately fighting animals still happens," explained Sarmiento, "but currently there is a bill before Congress that will make it a federal felony to transport fighting animals across state lines."

Last year the HSPCA logged about 500 livestock admissions into its facility. "Livestock cruelty admissions have definitely increased at our facility," stated Sarmiento. "But it is hard to say exactly why."

She explained that the increase in admissions is not necessarily a sign of an increase in abuse. "It could be an sign of heightened awareness on the public's part and right after Animal Cops Houston aired on the Animal Planet Network last August we did see an increase in calls."

Recently the Texas Humane Legislative Network (THLN) was called upon to aid in the defeat of House Bill 1324 which would have legalized the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Betty Brown of Kaufman and passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. Repeated attempts to obtain a comment from Rep. Brown went unanswered.

"Texas has the only two horse slaughter plants in the U.S.," said Ann Coller of the THLN. "Their argument was for keeping the plants open in order to save jobs, but both plants are owned by foreign subsidiaries and employ mostly low-wage migrant workers."

According to Coller, the fight to defeat the bill was tough but over one million calls were logged from Texans urging the bill's defeat.

While Texas does have animal cruelty statues in place, most cases of abuse in livestock and farming operations fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is the USDA's responsibility to enforce the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, Chapter 3, Part 313, Humane Slaughter of Livestock.

Currently the biggest animal cruelty issue facing the agriculture industry is the topic of downed animals and what is the most humane way to deal with them. The Downed Animal Protection Act is currently in committee, having passed the U.S. Senate in November 2003 as an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Agriculture Appropriations Act. Ironically the provision was defeated by the House of Representatives on Dec. 9, 2003, just days before a downed cow in Washington tested positive for BSE.

"Basically the provision would prevent downed animals from being processed into our meat supply," said Coller. "I don't think people want to eat meat from an animal that is too sick or injured to walk. You just wonder what the politicians are thinking when they float another bill that would put downed animals back into the food system. It just doesn't make sense."

In response to the BSE discovery in Washington, the USDA banned the slaughter of downed cattle for human consumption.

Animals that have survived abuse and neglect often times find themselves in sanctuaries or shelters. Once such sanctuary is the Do No Harm Farm in Kendalia, located about one hour north of San Antonio. As part of the 187-acre Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (WRR) sanctuary, the Do No Harm Farm provides a permanent home for injured, neglected, unwanted and abused animals that previously resided on farms.

"Since the latter part of 1999 we have rescued dozens of sheep and goats, chickens, turkeys, cows, bulls, steers, horses and mules," said Lynn Cuny, executive director of WRR. "A lot of the animals we see are simply neglected. They are literally put out to pasture forever; even if that pasture doesn't have the food they need, the water they need or the proper shelter. Sometimes it is more blatant.

"We've had some that have been confined or had their legs tied together where they couldn't walk. We've received animals that had wire wrapped around their necks, really the abuse just varies."

WRR is a non-profit organization and is accredited by the Association of Sanctuaries and holds permits through Texas Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. It is funded through membership dues and donations and the animals are not available for adoption.