Who defines humane treatment for farm animals?
While this column focuses on companion animals, my background includes time on Capitol Hill, where I worked on companion animal, wildlife and farm animal issues. So I am going to step off the curb and address an article by Mike Barnett, publications editor for Texas Agriculture Talks, a publication of the Texas Farm Animal Bureau, about a bill introduced in Congress called the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act, HR 4733. The legislation would prohibit the government from purchasing animal products that are not “humanely” produced for school lunch and other federal programs — a step in the right direction for farm animals. Barrett poses the question, “So who defines ‘humane?” He is worried it will be animal rights groups. To address this question, I called Adele Douglass, who founded Humane Farm Animal Care about a decade ago to recognize farmers for their transition toward more humane treatment of farm animals. Douglass is not a vegetarian; she believes, though, that farm animals should be
