Victory for Animals in California!!!
Hopefully, the rest of the states will follow California's lead to halt the inhumane confinement of animals on factory farms.
Prop 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, will provide more humane treatment of millions of farm animals by phasing out their confinement in small crates and cages where they can barely move for virtually their entire lives. The law would take effect in 2015 and would require that calves raised for veal, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens are given enough space to turn around, lie down, and stretch their limbs. Similar laws have been passed in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, and throughout the European Union’s 27 member countries.
What are veal crates?
IIn order to produce veal, calves are taken from their mothers, usually when they’re just hours old. For the four months before they're slaughtered, the calves are typically tethered by their necks in crates too narrow for them to turn around or even lie down comfortably. Prevented from engaging in their natural behaviors or from satisfying basic psychological needs, calves crated for veal suffer immensely, virtually immobilized in filthy, barren confinement.
Not only has the American Veal Association now recommended that the industry phase out the confinement of calves in veal crates, but the largest U.S. veal producer is ending its use of veal crates. The company's CEO asserts that veal crates are "inhumane and archaic practices that do nothing more than subject a calf to stress, fear, physical harm and pain." .
What are battery cages?
California has approximately 19 million egg-laying hens. The vast majority of them are confined in barren battery cages that are so small they can barely move. In fact, each caged hen has less space than a sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live for more than a year before she is slaughtered.
The birds can't even spread their wings, let alone nest, dust-bathe, perch, walk more than a few steps, or engage in nearly any of their natural behaviors. They endure lives filled with suffering.
Poultry scientist Dr. Ian Duncan states unequivocally: "Battery cages for laying hens have been shown (by me and others) to cause extreme frustration, particularly when the hen wants to lay an egg. Battery cages are being phased out in Europe and other more humane husbandry systems are being developed."
How will egg-laying hens be housed if they must be able to turn around and fully extend their limbs?
Cage-free housing usually provides hens 200-300 percent more space per bird. The animals are able to walk, spread their wings, and lay their eggs in nests—all behaviors permanently denied to hens confined in battery cages. Several California egg producers already operate cage-free egg farms, and several national retailers such as Burger King and Safeway are already increasingly purchasing cage-free eggs. Moreover, the 9.5 billion chickens raised for meat in the United States are already housed in cage-free systems.
What are gestation crates?
During their four-month pregnancies, thousands of female breeding pigs in California are confined in barren gestation crates—individual metal stalls only two-feet wide. The crates are so small that the animals cannot even turn around. Barely able to move, the pigs can develop crippling joint disorders and lameness.
Renowned farm animal expert Dr. Temple Grandin agrees that gestation crates are problematic, stating, "Basically, you're asking a sow to live in an airline seat. . . . I think it's something that needs to be phased out."
How will female breeding pigs be raised if they must be able to turn around and fully extend their limbs?
Many farmers already raise pigs without using gestation crates, so there is no reason why those currently using gestation crates here in California can't do the same. In fact, the nation's largest pig producer—Smithfield Foods—is ending its confinement of pigs in gestation crates, and its competitor Cargill already raises more than half of its breeding sows without gestation crates. When gestation crates aren't used, pig producers generally use a group housing system where the sows are kept together in more spacious conditions, with room to turn around and extend their limbs.
Why focus on veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates?
Generally speaking, there are already laws on the books that provide some semblance of protection to some farm animals at the point of slaughter and during transportation, but there are virtually no laws regulating the treatment of animals while they’re on the factory farm, where they spend the vast majority of their lives. The confinement of farm animals in tiny crates and cages is one of the most abusive practices used on industrial factory farms—both in terms of the intensity and duration of confinement. Keeping animals so restrictively caged and crated that they barely move for months on end is cruel and inhumane.
Why launch this initiative in California?
Prop 2 will reduce the suffering of nearly 20 million animals confined on California factory farms. The measure will also prevent other out-of-state factory farm operators from setting up shop in our state with veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates—reducing the risk that these noxious factory farms will pollute our air and water, drive family farmers out of business, and harm rural communities.
Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon have banned gestation crates, and Arizona and Colorado have also banned veal crates. Major California food retailers are moving away from supporting battery cages and veal and gestation crates. California city councils have also passed resolutions opposing battery cage confinement. It’s time for California to address this growing problem of industrialized agribusiness that threatens animal welfare, food safety, our communities and neighbors, and public health—and for “California Grown” to mean better animal welfare standards and better food for our families.
How are these factory farms cruel to animals?
It’s simply wrong to confine calves raised for veal, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies. Calves are tethered by the neck and can barely move, pigs in severe confinement bite the metal bars of their crates, and hens get trapped and even impaled in their wire cages. We wouldn’t force our pets to live in filthy, cramped cages for their whole lives, and we shouldn’t force farm animals to endure such misery either. All animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment.
How are these factory farms affect food safety and public health?
We all witnessed the cruel treatment of sick and crippled cows exposed by a Chino slaughter plant investigation this year, prompting authorities to pull meat off school menus and initiate the nation’s largest-ever meat recall. Factory farmers have put our health at risk by allowing these terrible abuses, and now are recklessly telling us it’s okay to keep animals in overcrowded, inhumane conditions. Cramming millions of animals into tiny cages fosters the spread of animal diseases that may affect people. The scientific literature provides overwhelming evidence that the passage of Prop 2 will improve food safety and protect the health of Californians. For example, the largest study ever performed comparing Salmonella risk in battery cage versus cage-free egg production found that factory farms crowding hens in tiny cages had up to 25-times greater odds of being infected with Salmonella than cage-free flocks. Proposition 2 is better for animals—and for us. That’s why the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, among many other leading organizations, support Proposition 2.
How do these factory farms impact the environment?
The American Public Health Association, the largest organization of public health professionals in the world, has called for a moratorium on new factory farms because of the devastating effects these operations can have on surrounding communities. Factory farms often spread waste on the ground untreated—contaminating our waterways, lakes, groundwater, soil, and air. Phasing out the worst animal confinement practices means fewer animals per operation, and that means less manure and toxic pollution. Proposition 2 helps protect our precious natural resources. That’s why Clean Water Action and the Sierra Club support Proposition 2.
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