Animal Partisan’s 2-year-old petition to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service about enforcement of animal welfare laws has been endorsed by a second state law enforcement organization.
The Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, on Oct. 21, let FSIS know that it “supports Petition #23-07 and believes that a notice issued by the USDA would provide meaningful guidance to prosecutors and law enforcement. In turn, this guidance will conserve valuable enforcement resources and improve animal welfare across the state.”
Glan Allen, VA-based Animal Partian is a non-governmental organization that petitioned FSiS in 2023, asking for the agency to issue a notice to convey that: 1) State government officials are not categorically preempted from enforcing state anti-cruelty laws by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, or the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and 2) FSIS personnel should cooperate with state government officials in the enforcement of state anti-cruelty laws and improve clarity and frequency of communication to those officials.
The Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, representing the state’s 67 sheriffs since 1885, is the second state law enforcement body to endorse Animal Partisan’s petition. The first was the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, which supported the dual jurisdiction request on Aug. 21.
The Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association went on record in favor of “the state’s ability to enforce animal cruelty and neglect laws in cases involving animals used in agricultural operations.”
“As an association, the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association’s mission is to ‘protect, support, and advance the office of sheriff in the pursuit of excellence and safer communities’ through training, legislative efforts, and other professional services,” said the endorsement letter.
“The Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association’s priorities include ensuring the safety and well-being of Minnesota’s diverse communities, from those in our state’s metropolitan areas to our vast agricultural regions,” it continued.
“As a leading producer of turkeys and hogs in the Minnesota, U.S., is home to millions of livestock and poultry. Given the number of these animals and the importance of this industry to our state, it is imperative that our state law enforcement and prosecutors fully understand their ability to enforce the state’s animal welfare laws,” the letter added.
For its part, Animal Partisan marked the second anniversary of its petition by giving FSIS an example of an Arkansas Sheriff’s investigator who recently concluded that his agency has no authority over conduct committed at a USDA-regulated facility and stated, “This is a commercial butcher business and these types of incidents are handled by the FSIS.” The state investigator categorically rejected any state authority over the federally inspected establishment.
Animal Partisan said the Arkansas response “underscores the need for the petition’s first request — clarity to state law enforcement and prosecutors as to their ability to enforce state anti-cruelty laws.”
Jeff Lavey, executive director of the Idaho Sheriffs Association, wrote to FSIS in August, saying the Animal Partisan petition was a “straightforward common sense request” that does not change or modify any existing laws. He said it will guide state law enforcement officials about their ability to enforce state cruelty and neglect laws involving livestock and poultry.
The Animal Partisan petition is assigned to the FSIS Office of Policy and Program Development for review. In addition to the two law enforcement groups, it has been endorsed by numerous animal activist and veterinary organizations.
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