The ASPCA has strongly condemned the animal-related provisions in the Farm Bill released by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, warning that it would have devastating effects on billions of farm animals, dogs, cats, and horses. Key concerns include a provision that would overturn existing state and local farm animal welfare laws, undermining bans on cruel farming practices and harming higher-welfare farmers. The bill also weakens protections for dogs suffering in puppy mills by making it harder for the USDA to intervene and rescue animals, and it fails to include bipartisan legislation to prohibit the slaughter of American horses, allowing tens of thousands to be exported for slaughter abroad.

The ASPCA urges Congress to reject the House bill’s harmful language and instead pass a more humane Farm Bill that upholds state animal protection laws, safeguards dogs in puppy mills, and ends horse slaughter permanently. The organization highlights that the bill’s current provisions represent an unprecedented federal overreach that would reverse years of progress toward more humane treatment of animals and calls on the public to contact their representatives to advocate for stronger animal welfare protections.