Campaign Unavailable

Most doctors commonly warn their patients never to take antibiotics if they are not actually sick. Yet that is exactly what is happening on industrial farms where animals are given low doses of antibiotics over long periods of time to speed growth and to compensate for unsanitary and crowded conditions.

As a result, new deadly strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria develop in the animals and can transfer to people through contact with the animals, eating and handling the meat, eating food grown in contaminated manure, or drinking water polluted by farm runoff. Once the bacteria are loose in the environment, they can breed even more resistance that could balloon into a major health crisis.

House and Senate versions of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) were introduced on March 17. The bills would phase out the routine use of human medicines in livestock, except when needed to treat sick animals.

Please contact your representatives today and ask them to co-sponsor PAMTA.