1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I'm asking you to champion veterinary-led animal welfare standards for the dairy and meat industries, starting with regulations that end the solitary confinement of dairy calves. Right now, nearly 200,000 calves at facilities like Grimmius Cattle Company in California are kept in individual outdoor hutches smaller than one-tenth of a parking spot. These newborn calves are separated from their mothers and transported to these operations when they're only days old. This practice exists in a regulatory loophole that allows the dairy industry to confine baby cows in isolation during their most vulnerable months. Veterinarians understand animal welfare science better than anyone. They should be leading the development of enforceable standards that address housing, transport, and early-life care for the 9 million calves born into the dairy system each year. We've moved away from veal, but we've simply shifted the problem rather than solving it. I want to see you introduce or co-sponsor legislation that requires veterinary expertise in crafting animal welfare policy for industrial agriculture. These animals deserve science-based standards, not industry self-regulation.