Back in March of 2008, we received a report of a nursing dog who had been shot to death on a side street in Edgard, Louisiana, a rural town 45 minutes west of New Orleans.  The shooting of this dog and the rescue of her puppies (who were all adopted into loving homes) led to the formation of the Rapid Response Animal Protection Team.   

Our goal was to form a team of hundreds of people from around the state who, when notified, would travel to the scene of a crime to aid abused or neglected animal(s) and those at risk; trained volunteer investigators would also assist law enforcement officers with criminal cases.  Within a few months, the team was up and running, and since that time we have responded to hundreds of calls, knocked on countless doors, passed out thousands of flyers, established rewards for the conviction of animal abusers, sent out scores of press releases, and hosted a number of cruelty investigation workshops.

We took custody of 12 goats and 4 sheep in a recent cruelty case. It's hard to imagine these wonderful animals being subjected to the kind of cruelty that 'downed' animals experience every day.

Your help is needed to encourage the USDA to prevent senseless acts of cruelty from being perpetrated against 'downed' animals.  'Downed' animals are those who are destined for the slaughterhouse but are unable stand or move because of weakness or injury.  Because they are unable to easily move forward to their deaths, they are often subjected to extremely inhumane treatment and abuse by workers, who pull and prod them along to be killed at any cost.

A Washington Post article described a video filmed by an undercover humane investigator, which showed workers "using chains to drag cows unable to stand; shoving and rolling crippled cows with forklifts; and rampant use of electric prods to drive infirm animals to slaughter."

Thankfully, President Obama issued a rule, which prevents downed cows from being subjected to this kind of abuse.  New regulations require that injured cows be humanely euthanized, rather than being dragged to the 'kill' floor.  Thousands of pigs, goats and other animals remain unprotected, however.

The group Farm Sanctuary submitted a petition for rulemaking to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) requesting that the rule be extended to other species of farm animals as well.  The USDA recently announced that the agency is considering the request and taking public comments. 

You can speak up for these animals in urgent need!  Please take a moment to submit your comments directly by going here and filling out the required information.  In the organization field, write "none," unless you are affiliated with a rescue or other humane group.  

Comments are due on April 8, 2011, so please take action today and ask your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.

Please use the sample comment below as a GUIDELINE ONLY.   Thoughtful comments in your own words will be much more useful.

Sample Comment

Dear FSIS officials:

I am writing to urge you to please extend current regulations requiring that downed cattle be immediately and humanely euthanized to cover other species of farm animals as well. Thousands of pigs, goats and sheep become downed at federally inspected slaughter facilities each year and, because they are still eligible for slaughter, these defenseless animals are often subjected to extreme abuse. All animals have the capacity to suffer, so please take this necessary next step to afford downers of other species the same basic protections that have been extended to cattle.