El Paso Congresswoman urging USDA to adopt new livestock regulation

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar is trying to get a new USDA rule implemented that would protect downed (nonambulatory) pigs from slaughter.

Escobar and nine of her colleagues in congress sent a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture urging their support for the proposed rule.

A regulation protecting nonambulatory cattle and calves already exist. Downed livestock have the potential to harbor and spread food-borne diseases. Those illnesses can harm not only consumers, but the employees of slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants.

“In addition to protecting the public from contaminated pork products, removing downed pigs from the food system will also reduce farm, slaughterhouse, and meatpacking workers’ risk of contact with zoonotic diseases," Escobar's joint letter explained. "These workers already face serious workplace hazards, with reported rates of illness and injury higher than those in manufacturing overall."

Pigs harbor flu viruses which humans have no immunity against. Escobar and her colleagues point to the 2009 swine flu pandemic, which killed several hundred people. That pandemic is thought to have started with pigs raised for food.

“Congress has repeatedly stressed the need to better regulate the treatment of nonambulatory pigs over the past several decades," the lawmakers continued in their letter. "By implementing regulatory protections, we are ensuring the humane treatment of these animals and protecting public health. That is why we urge you to conduct a thorough and comprehensive review of this issue concerning downed pigs in order to guarantee our food system is safe for everyone.”