As extreme cold grips much of the U.S., Mercy For Animals urges action on bipartisan Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act
LOS ANGELES — As Winter Storm Fern brings record-low temperatures and dangerous conditions across large portions of the United States, thousands of farmed animals are currently being transported through extreme weather with little oversight and inadequate protection.
Each year, billions of animals are packed into trucks and driven long distances from factory farms to slaughterhouses, often without access to food, water, rest, or shelter from severe heat or cold. During winter months, animals frequently suffer from hypothermia, injury, and even death while in transit—sometimes freezing to the floors or sides of transport trailers.
“Existing transport standards are insufficient and often unenforced, leaving animals vulnerable to hypothermia, injury, and death during extreme weather events like this one. The Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act is a commonsense solution that would increase accountability, strengthen basic protections, and reduce unnecessary suffering,” said Alex Cerussi, Senior State Policy Manager at Mercy For Animals. “Moments like this storm remind us why action is needed now. By supporting this bill, lawmakers have an opportunity to protect animals, improve food system resilience, and respond responsibly to the growing reality of extreme weather.”
Current federal law requires animals to be offloaded for food, water, and rest only after 28 hours of continuous transport, and enforcement of this standard has been widely criticized as insufficient. There is no comprehensive system in place to monitor compliance, even during severe weather emergencies.
The Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act would address these gaps by requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a mechanism to monitor compliance with existing transport laws. The bill would strengthen accountability, improve transparency, and help prevent unnecessary suffering during long-distance transport, particularly during extreme weather events like Winter Storm Fern.
Mercy For Animals is urging lawmakers to support the Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act and ensure that basic protections are enforced when animals are transported across the country.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Ronnika A. McFall at [email protected].
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Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Active in Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and the United States, the organization has conducted over 100 investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses, influenced over 500 corporate policies, and helped pass historic legislation to ban cages for farmed animals. Learn more at MercyForAnimals.org.
