US representatives introduce bill against animal cruelty

US representatives Diane Watson and Elton Gallegly have introduced the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act to set rules around confinement of animal used to produce food purchased by the federal government.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) praised the proposal and encouraged Congress to act swiftly to pass the bill.

HSUS said the bill "simply requires that any food purchased for federal programmes comes from animals raised with enough room to stand up, lie down, turn around and stretch their limbs."

"This bill requires meat producers who sell to the federal government to follow the same guidelines that California producers have in place to ensure the animals are raised humanely," said Gallegly in a statement.

Seven states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan and Oregon - have passed laws to phase out some form of animal confinement, but no federal laws mandate animal husbandry practices.

The federal government spends more than US$1 billion buying animal products for a variety of programs and agencies, including the National School Lunch Programme, the Armed Services and the Bureau of Prisons, according to HSUS.