I witnessed an overturned pig transport truck in 2019, and I’ll never forget it.
No animal should endure preventable suffering on the way to slaughter — and we can stop a lot of it with real enforcement.

It wasn’t a “farm issue” or a “politics issue” in that moment — it was an animal issue. Pigs trapped in a wreck, terrified and helpless, with people scrambling to respond. That day made one thing painfully clear to me: farm animals can suffer enormously on the road, completely out of public view, and often with little accountability.

And the truth is, this isn’t rare. Every day in the U.S., farmed animals are packed onto trucks and transported long distances to slaughter. When trips go wrong — heat, cold, delays, breakdowns, crashes — animals can be injured, dehydrated, or too weak to stand. They don’t get a choice, and they can’t call for help.

We do have a federal law meant to prevent the worst of it: the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, which generally requires that certain animals transported across state lines be unloaded for food, water, and rest after 28 hours.

But multiple investigations and records reviews show enforcement is incredibly limited. One investigation based on USDA records found just 19 investigations over 17 years, and even when violations were found, consequences were often minimal or stalled. 

At the same time, major gaps remain — including that the law does not cover billions of birds transported each year.

That’s why I’m urging lawmakers to support the Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act (H.R. 5286), introduced by Dina Titus. This bill would strengthen enforcement of the Twenty-Eight Hour Law and prohibit transporting animals deemed “unfit to travel” — like animals who are sick, injured, or too weak to stand.

This isn’t about telling people what to do. It’s about a basic line we should all agree on: no animal should endure preventable suffering on the way to slaughter — especially when stronger enforcement and clear rules are possible right now.

Add your name to urge Congress to pass the Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act and demand real enforcement to protect animals on America’s roads.

(If you live outside the U.S., your signature still helps — public pressure is public pressure, and lawmakers pay attention when a campaign spreads.)

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