File #: Res 0611-2006    Version: * Name: “Downed Animal Protection Act” (S.1779/H.R.3931)
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Health
On agenda: 11/15/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to pass S.1779/H.R.3931, the “Downed Animal Protection Act,” which would amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to ensure the humane slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock, thus preventing such meat from entering the human food supply.
Sponsors: Peter F. Vallone, Jr., Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Inez E. Dickens, Alan J. Gerson, Letitia James, Michael C. Nelson, Larry B. Seabrook, Melissa Mark-Viverito
Council Member Sponsors: 8
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/31/2009*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Filed (End of Session)  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/15/2006*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/15/2006*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Res. No. 611

 

Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to pass S.1779/H.R.3931, the “Downed Animal Protection Act,” which would amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to ensure the humane slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock, thus preventing such meat from entering the human food supply.

 

By Council Members Vallone Jr., Comrie, Dickens, Gerson, James, Nelson, Seabrook and Mark-Viverito

 

Whereas, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as “Mad Cow Disease”, is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that is linked to a human disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which humans can contract from exposure to BSE-contaminated food; and

Whereas, The United States Department of Health and Human Services website indicates that BSE related diseases are “invariably fatal and there is no known treatment or cure;” and

                       Whereas, An Associated Press report on April 16, 2006, indicated that there have been over 150 human deaths worldwide linked to BSE; and

                       Whereas, A Harvard Risk Assessment of BSE issued on October 26, 2006, noted a general consensus that non-ambulatory or downed animals are more likely to carry BSE than healthy animals; and

                       Whereas, News reports indicate that the cows that were struck with BSE in Washington in 2003, in Texas in 2005, and in Alabama in 2006 were all non-ambulatory or downed cows; and

                       Whereas, A bill before the United States Congress, known as the “Downed Animal Protection Act” (S.1779/H.R.3931) would amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to require that any meat dealer, packer, slaughter facility or establishment covered by the federal Meat Inspection Act be required to immediately and humanely euthanize all non-ambulatory livestock; and

                     Whereas, The bill would also make it unlawful for any inspector to pass through inspection any non-ambulatory livestock or carcass, including parts of a carcass, of non-ambulatory livestock, and would require any such livestock, carcass, or carcass parts to be clearly labeled as “inspected and condemned;” and

Whereas, By prohibiting inspectors from certifying meat from livestock too sick or injured to walk unassisted, the bill would codify the United States Drug Administration’s ban on downed cattle in human food, and expand it to include other species, such as downed pigs and sheep; and

                     Whereas, The bill’s findings indicate that requiring the humane euthanization of non-ambulatory livestock in interstate and foreign commerce would, among other things, reduce “the likelihood of the spread of diseases”; and

                     Whereas, Preventing the meat of downed animals from entering the food supply is essential in protecting the health and well being of all New Yorkers, as well as all those who live in the United States; now, therefore, be it

                       Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Congress to pass S.1779/H.R.3931, the “Downed Animal Protection Act,” which would amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to ensure the humane slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock, thus preventing such meat from entering the human food supply.

RK

LS# 2014

11.06.2006 12PM