Tell Congress to Ban Inhumane, Toxic Factory Farm CAFOs

Animals raised in factory farm CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are subjected to unnatural and cruel living conditions and practices. In most cases, animals such as cows, pigs and chickens are packed so tightly that they have no room to move. These animals experience unnecessary pain and suffering from living in their own excrement, in horrid and filthy conditions.

CAFOs are associated with significant human health concerns. Experts agree that overuse of medically important antibiotics in animal factory farms is leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, endangering public health.

CAFOs are contributing to increased instances of food-borne illness. The 2019 contamination of romaine lettuce implicated in three outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 causing 188 people to fall ill is linked to fecal matter runoff from factory farm cattle feedlots.

CAFOs have increased transfer of infectious agents from animals to humans and are hotbeds for a generation of novel viruses. The 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic that caused nearly 300,000 deaths worldwide began in North American pig CAFOs. Public health experts warn that industrial factory farm CAFOs are the breeding ground for future pandemics. 

CAFOs are linked to the ill health of nearby residents and “are directly associated with the social and economic decline of rural communities,” according to the American Public Health Association. Additionally, CAFOs are responsible for massive air, water and environmental pollution that extends well beyond the areas where the CAFOs are sited. CAFOs are not sustainable.

Sign the petition to tell Congress to ban toxic CAFOs!