The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is asking for more help from the pork industry to counteract strong lobbying efforts from animal rights activists.

NPPC recently requested veterinary action on a number of legislative issues. More than 40 members of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians have logged onto the NPPC Web site and send an e-mail to their congressional representatives.

Now, NPPC is asking for support from other veterinarians, nutritionists, veterinary technicians and other animal health professionals to help level the playing field in dealing with several proposed pieces of legislation:

• Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) are sponsoring legislation (S. 549 and H.R. 962, respectively) that would prohibit the use of antibiotics in livestock in certain situations.
  
• Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) are sponsoring bills (H.R. 661 and S. 394, respectively) that would prevent fatigued hogs from entering the human food supply.
  
• Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) are sponsoring H.R. 1726, the “Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act,” that would ban the federal government from buying pork from farms that use individual sow housing systems.

To participate and fight these proposals, log onto http://www.nppc.org, click on the Legislative Action Center and follow the directions. More details on this process are available from NPPC’s Annamaria Castiglia, DVM, director of Science and Technology, by phoning (202) 347-3600.