Last spring I took a course where we had the opportunity to raise lambs and learn about managing a flock of sheep. At the end of the semester some of our lambs were sold for breeding, but others were sold for meat. Some would think that after raising a lamb you would want to become a vegetarian, but for me it was the opposite. Knowing that the animals were raised with humane standards makes me more comfortable with the idea of eating meat, and I believe many consumers would also feel reassured with the same knowledge.

I have come to realize though that not all animals are raised as humanely as our lambs at the University farm. The animal welfare act does not cover agricultural animals raised for production. As a result, there is no way to enforce the humane treatment of production animals, and no way for us as consumers to know if the food we buy came from producers with humane standards. Setting humane standards also improves meat quality by reducing stress. The stress response causes animals to release a hormone that causes the meat to become acidic and tasteless. In addition improved welfare has been known to increase production and minimize the risk of injury or disease. Therefore setting humane standards has an economic justification as well as an ethical one.

The Five Freedoms were developed in 1979 by the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. They include the freedom from hunger and thirst, the freedom from discomfort, the freedom from pain, injury and disease, the freedom from fear and distress, and the freedom to express natural behavior. The Five Freedoms have become the foundation for animal welfare standards ever since. I am petitioning the USDA to pass regulations protecting all agricultural animals based on the Five Freedoms.