URGENT: Voice your support for H.F. 203, a bill that will protect farm animals

A bill that would prevent the construction or expansion of factory pig farms in Iowa has been assigned to the Environmental Protection committee.

Its successful passage would be a critical step forward in protecting public health, the environment, and farm animals from the harms attributed to intensive factory farming, and it needs your support!

Take action

As a resident of Iowa, this is your opportunity to add your voice and stand up for farm animals in your state.

Sponsors of the bill and local advocacy groups are organizing a lobby day this Thursday, Feb 21, to demonstrate widespread support for the initiative.

A piglet in the arms of our Campaign Officer

If you would like to attend in person, details and RSVP information are available here.

To move forward, H.F. 203 needs to be assigned to a sub-committee. However, Rep. Dean Fisher – chair of the House Environmental Protection Committee – is single-handedly stopping the bill by refusing to assign it to a sub-committee.

In order to survive, the bill must receive a sub-committee hearing before March 8.

Time is running out. Call Rep. Fisher’s office and tell him to stand up for animals and Iowans, assign H.F. 203 to sub-committee now.

See instructions and sample message below: 

Factory farms rely on cruel, harmful practices to cut costs. On factory pig farms, mother pigs are confined to cages during pregnancy and nursing, without enough room to turn around.

Mother pigs in gestation crates

Piglets are taken from their mothers too young, before they’ve built up their strength and immunity, and subjected to unnecessary, painful procedures like tail cutting and castration without pain relief.

Close confinement, overcrowding, and massive amounts of manure make these systems unhealthy for the animals as well as nearby ecosystems and communities.

Stop the expansion of this cruel, polluting industry in Iowa. Support H.F. 203. Call Rep. Fisher today!

Rep. Dean Fisher, direct: (641) 750-3594

Capital switchboard: (515) 281-3221

Sample phone message:

Hello, Representative Fisher,

This is _____ from _____ county. I am calling today in regards to H.F. 203 -- the factory farm moratorium bill that was assigned to the Environmental Protections committee.

As chair of the committee, I would like to see you take action and assign this bill to subcommittee.

With 14 co-sponsors on the bill, it is clear Representatives across Iowa care about this issue.

The people of Iowa deserve to see this bill discussed. Please assign H.F. 203 to subcommittee at the next meeting of the Environmental Protection committee.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Want to do even more?

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper expressing your concerns about the expansion of factory farms in your community and the intrinsic threats these industrialized farms bring to the local environment, human health and animal welfare.

Express your desire to have H.F. 203 discussed.

Elected officials represent the people of Iowa and the community deserves to see this bill discussed.

One elected official should not be able to stop the discussion. Demand H.F. 203 be assigned to a subcommittee at the next meeting of the Environmental Protection committee. 

To submit a letter, check the webpage of your local newspaper for instructions and guidelines including word limits by searching Letter to the Editor.

Some have online forms and others request your letter to be emailed.

The instructions for submitting a letter to the editor at the Des Moines Register can be found here and most publications have this information easily available on the website.

Be sure to include your name and location, the reasons an issue is important to you and why it should be important to others in your community.

You can also send a message to Representative Fisher on Facebook.

Rep. Dean Fisher, direct: (641) 750-3594; Capital switchboard: (515) 281-3221