Stop Inappropriate Antibiotic Use on Industrial Farms
As we celebrate Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, which raises awareness about antibiotic resistance and the importance of proper antibiotic use in humans, we should keep in mind that every day antibiotics are inappropriately fed to food animals that aren't sick.
Industrial farms often routinely feed healthy food animals low doses of antibiotics to speed up growth and compensate for unsanitary living conditions. In fact, up to 70 percent of all antibiotics produced in the U.S. are given to food animals, not people. This practice threatens the health of the public by creating the ideal breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to spread.
Please take a moment to ask Congress to support the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, legislation that would withdraw seven classes of antibiotics vitally important to human health from use on industrial farms unless animals or herds are sick with disease.
Dear Congressperson [Name],
As a resident of [State], I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 (PAMTA). PAMTA would withdraw seven classes of antibiotics vitally important to human health from use on industrial farms unless animals or herds are sick with disease, and unless drug companies can show their use does not harm human health.
To help prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, doctors commonly warn their patients that the drugs should only be used for bacterial infections, and should be taken at the proper dosage for the full course of treatment. Yet industrial farms violate these medical principles every day by feeding healthy animals low doses of antibiotics over long periods of time in order to speed up their growth and to compensate for unsanitary living conditions. The vast majority of antibiotics given through animal feed do not require a veterinary prescription. This practice creates the ideal breeding ground for dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria to thrive and spread. In fact, up to 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to healthy food animals. This threatens the health of farm workers, communities and the public.
By eliminating the routine feeding of important human antibiotics to food animals and reducing the prevalence of antibiotic resistance, we are allowing antibiotics to remain effective for treating human illnesses. Again, I urge you to support PAMTA, which saves our antibiotics so that antibiotics can save us.
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