Leahy Proposes Bill
To Mandate Tracking Of Animals
To Help Prevent Spread Of Mad Cow Disease

…System Designed By Brattleboro’s Holstein Association At Center Of Legislation

WASHINGTON (Wed., Jan. 21) – Sen. Patrick Leahy Tuesday introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use technology and science to track animals from birth to slaughter, a measure the USDA and many others have recognized as crucial to preventing future cases of mad cow disease.  The bill, the National Farm Animal Identification and Records Act (FAIR Act) would require the USDA to be able to track an animal within 48 hours. 

The recent discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state demonstrates the need for this system, Leahy said.  To date, only 23 of the 81 cows that came from Canada with the infected animal have been tracked.  The USDA has committed to creating a tracking system by 2006.  The FAIR Act would require the animal tracking system be up and running within 90 days after becoming law.   

Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has long supported efforts to create a national animal identification program.  On Wednesday, Leahy met with members of the Brattleboro-based Holstein Association to discuss their federally funded animal tracking pilot program.  For the past half-decade, Leahy and Sen. Jim Jeffords have been working with the Holstein Association to create an animal identification system that can track animals from birth to slaughter within 48 hours.  The Holstein Association’s pilot program has close to a million bovines enrolled from over 7,000 farms in 42 states.  Leahy and Jeffords secured $500,000 per year for the Association’s pilot program since 1999, and Leahy says it has already proven its electronic tracking capabilities.

“Animal traceability is the key to stopping animal disease outbreaks from spreading,” said Leahy.  “Thanks to the work of the Holstein Association, we have the means to track nearly every bovine in the country.  I am concerned that USDA’s timeline for implementation of a national animal identification program is not nearly fast enough to ensure market access for America’s farmers, or meet American consumers demands that their meat be identified from birth to slaughter.  The FAIR Act would ensure that the much needed process of identifying and tracing animals begins immediately.”  

Leahy applauded the USDA’s announcement of additional mad cow safeguards, including moving toward a national animal identification system and banning downed animals from human consumption.  But Leahy has been critical of the Administration’s reactionary policies, including several years of resistance to a Leahy bill that would have banned downed animals and their apparent sluggish pace towards implementing an animal identification system.

The FAIR Act would also provide federal assistance to farmers to offset the costs of implementing the tracking system.

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