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Stop feeding important human antibiotics to healthy livestock!
Antibiotic use in livestock production is an emerging public health risk. Take action now to stop this practice.
A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 70% of all antibiotics used annually in the United States – about 24.6 million pounds each year – are fed routinely to healthy livestock for nontherapeutic purposes.
According to medical researchers, the misuse of antibiotics in livestock and poultry production decreases their efficiency and fosters the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. These bacteria have been found in meat and poultry products, and detected in ground and surface waters downstream from animal feeding operations.
The OEC supports proposed legislation, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which would phase out the use of certain antibiotics important to human medicine in animal agriculture unless there is a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health due to the development of antimicrobial resistance.
Take action today! Email or call Senator Brown and urge him to be a co-sponsor of PAMTA:
- Send an email now using the easy form at right.
- Call his office at (202) 224-2315.
- Send this page link to three friends and ask them to help, too!
We urge you to modify the email to Senator Brown to include any personal experiences you, your family, or your community has had with resistant infections or need for antibiotics.
The overuse of antibiotics – whether in human or veterinary medicine – presents an unacceptable risk to public health and must be curtailed. Take action now!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please add your name TODAY as a co-sponsor of PAMTA
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
We need to STOP feeding important human antibiotics to healthy livestock!
I agree with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pew Commission on Industrial Food Animal Production, the American Medical Association, and more than 300 other health, consumer, agricultural, and environmental organizations about the urgent need to STOP feeding important human antibiotics to healthy livestock.
I am counting on you to add your name TODAY as a co-sponsor of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA).
Sincerely,
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