ASPCA Policies And Positions On Animals Raised For Food
The following are the ASPCA’s official policy and position statements on food animals and livestock. Click here to see our complete list.
3.1 Eating Meat
The ASPCA believes that whether or not to consume animals, and animal products such as milk and eggs, is a personal and private determination that must be left to each individual. However, the ASPCA firmly believes that animals who are bred, raised and killed or harvested for human consumption, like all animals, are entitled to protection from distress and suffering during their lives and at the time of their deaths.
3.2 Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC)
The ASPCA supports the mission of Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC), which is to improve the lives of farm animals from birth through slaughter and to give consumers a humane choice in the marketplace. Humane Farm Animal Care, the first certification organization specifying animal welfare standards to be audited and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture/International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide 65 Assessment Program, has developed exhaustive standards for the rearing and handling of the animals, transport to market and slaughter practices. Producers who adhere to these standards are allowed to display the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label on their products. The ASPCA urges individuals who choose to consume animal products to purchase products that bear this label.
3.3 HFAC Standards
Humane Farm Animal Care standards have the following objectives for animals who are raised for food. Taken together they address many of the cruelties inherent in although not limited to intensive farming operations. These include: close confinement and severely restricted mobility; overcrowding; temperature extremes; the overuse of antibiotics in an attempt to keep animals healthy in fundamentally unhealthy environments; deprivations of many kinds including of exercise, of light, and of engaging in species-typical behaviors such as sunbathing, foraging, roosting and nesting; various routine mutilations to manage behavior, such as debeaking, dehorning, detoeing and tail docking; and mistreatment at the hands of agricultural workers. Humane Farm Animal Care objectives include:
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Access to fresh water and a diet designed to maintain full health for the animal’s projected lifespan and promote a positive state of well-being, with food and water distributed in such a way as to avoid undue competition;
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An environment in which animals are protected from physical and environmental discomfort, fear and distress, and are allowed to perform their natural behavior;
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Managers and caretakers who are thoroughly trained, skilled and competent in the husbandry and welfare of the animals under their care;
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A plan for herd health that is in accordance with good veterinary and husbandry practices;
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Considerate handling, transport and slaughter designed to avoid unnecessary distress or discomfort.
3.4 Positions on Specific Issues
In supporting the standards of Humane Farm Animal Care, the ASPCA confirms the following positions with regard to these important welfare issues:
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Use of gestation crates for pregnant sows: Oppose
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Use of battery cages for laying hens: Oppose
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Forced molting of laying hens: Oppose
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Use of veal crates: Oppose
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Use of electric prods to move livestock: Oppose unless animal or human safety is in jeopardy; a method of last resort.
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Docking tails of pigs: Support, but only to prevent tail biting by other pigs. The ASPCA supports further research to eliminate this behavior.
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Debeaking laying hens: Support, but only because the pain and suffering of cannibalized hens is greater. The ASPCA supports continuing research to prevent this behavior. Debeaking to be performed by trained individuals and only upper mandible to be cut.
3.5 Force-Feeding of Fowl
Although Humane Farm Animal Care has not yet developed standards for raising ducks and geese, the ASPCA is opposed to the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce pâté de foie gras.
3.7 Consumption of Horsemeat
Due to the historic role that horses have played in the development of our country and culture, the ASPCA is opposed to the slaughter of horses for human consumption.
3.8 Hides, Skins and Feathers
The ASPCA supports the concept of fully utilizing the hides, skins and feathers of animals who are raised for food and have or will be killed for consumption. The ASPCA would not support the notion of raising animals exclusively and explicitly for their skins or feathers except in cases where there may be no reasonable alternatives.
3.9 Farming Wildlife for Food
Wild animals such as bison, elk and emu are increasingly being “farmed” for meat production. Because these animals are not domesticated, the ASPCA is concerned that confinement, handling and transport present unacceptable levels of distress and therefore is opposed to raising them for food.