1 Petition Before the United States Department Of
PETITION BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE __________________________________________ ) THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF ) THE UNITED STATES, Inc. ) 2100 L St. N.W. ) Washington, D.C. 20037, ) ) FARM SANCTUARY, Inc. ) P.O. Box 150 ) Watkins Glen, NY 14891, ) ) COMPASSION OVER KILLING, Inc. ) Docket No. ___________ P.O. Box 9773 ) Washington D.C. 20016, ) ) ANIMALS’ ANGELS e.V. ) Mozartstrasse 32 ) D79104-Freiburg ) Germany ) ) Petitioners, ) ) MIKE JOHANNS ) Secretary, ) United States Department of Agriculture, ) 1400 Independence Ave. ) Washington, DC 20250-0100, ) ) W. RON DEHAVEN, ) Administrator, USDA, Animal ) and Plant Health Inspection Service ) 1400 Independence Ave. ) Washington, DC 20250-0100 ) ) Respondents, ) _________________________________________ ) 1 PETITION FOR RULEMAKING I. INTRODUCTION This petition is submitted on behalf of The Humane Society of the United States, Inc. (“The HSUS”), Farm Sanctuary, Inc., Compassion Over Killing, Inc., and Animals’ Angels (hereafter “petitioners”) and requests action by the United States Department of Agriculture, and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (collectively “USDA”) regarding the interstate truck transport of animals. Specifically, petitioners request that USDA promulgate long overdue regulations applying the oldest federal humane law—the Twenty-eight Hour Law—to the truck transport of animals. Currently the USDA does not have any regulatory scheme in place to ensure that the millions of animals transported by truck every year in the United States are fed, watered and allowed a five hour rest after 28 hours of travel, even though the Twenty-eight Hour Law (“the Act”) has required these bare-minimum humane measures for over 132 years. As discussed in detail below, the petitioners have amassed a detailed factual record showing extreme, and entirely avoidable cruelty associated with long distance truck transport of animals, including confinement exceeding 35 hours, broken limbs, severe overheating, dehydration, and frequent fatalities.
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