Making Hay

Industry Comes to the Table

By Gene

Earlier this month, in an historic compromise between the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and the United Egg Producers (UEP), citizens’ initiatives in the states of Washington and Oregon were put on hold in exchange for a commitment from UEP to work jointly with HSUS in support of a federal law to prohibit the cruel confinement of egg laying hens in barren battery cages. Although the UEP has defended battery cages for years, asserting that they promote animal welfare and food safety, the trade organization has come to recognize that the use of these cages is outside the bounds of acceptable conduct in our society.

The vast majority of citizens believe that farm animals deserve to be treated with respect, and they oppose commonly employed factory farming practices. With the UEP agreement, the egg industry has joined the pork industry and the veal industry, which have announced plans to phase out gestation crates and veal crates, respectively. Farm Sanctuary and our colleagues have exposed and challenged these inhumane confinement systems for decades, and we’re finally seeing progress, especially over the past ten years.

The UEP agreement is particularly important in that it calls for federal legislation. This will be the first nationwide law to address the welfare of animals on farms, and it could lead to other federal legislation addressing farmed animal welfare in the future, a possibility that has other industry groups concerned.

The UEP/HSUS agreement goes beyond just cage size and conformation. It will also require that eggs be labeled according to how the hens who laid them are housed, which will remind consumers that their eggs come from real, living animals and will help increase awareness about the consequences of their food choices. Everybody, except proponents of the factory farming industry, benefits when citizens make more informed and conscientious food choices, opting for foods that are more healthful, humane and environmentally sustainable.

Change occurs through the adoption of new laws and policies, like the HSUS/UEP agreement, and through consumer choices, which collectively define market trends. On both fronts, we are beginning to see positive signs. Still, there is an awful long way to go, and it is absolutely crucial that we keep pushing for improvements. Stay tuned to help enact the HSUS/UEP measure in Washington, DC, in the near future. In the meantime, you can vote with your dollars every day by choosing to eat plant foods instead of animal foods.

Ballot Initiative to Prevent Farm Animal Cruelty Launched in Oregon

 

By Gene

Across the U.S., billions of farm animals are exploited by the agriculture industry. Viewed as mere production units, chickens, calves, pigs, and other animals on factory farms spend much of their lives crammed into tiny cages and crates. In these extreme confinement systems, the animals can’t walk, turn around or even fully stretch their limbs, causing them to suffer physically and psychologically.

Due to the strong influence wielded over the federal and state legislatures by agribusiness, many laws in the U.S. sanction inhumane treatment and unsanitary conditions, and exempt the meat, dairy and egg industries from basic animal welfare requirements. But using the voter initiative process, concerned citizens, including those in Florida, Arizona and California, have been able to fight back, collecting signatures and placing on their state ballots measures to ban cruel factory farming practices.

In Washington state, Farm Sanctuary has teamed up with HSUS and others in an effort to place on the November ballot a statewide measure preventing the cruel confinement of egg-laying hens in battery cages. Volunteers in Washington are busy collecting signatures and spreading the word. Striving to stay one step ahead, however, agribusiness interests are attempting to entrench the egg industry’s cruel practices in neighboring Oregon.

The Oregon Legislature began its current session considering a bill (S.B. 805) that would have phased out battery cage confinement. But the bill has since been co-opted by special interests in the agriculture industry. Through a series of crippling amendments, S.B. 805 has been transformed into a bill that provides merely the illusion of reform while in fact codifying the cage confinement of hens. Farm Sanctuary has joined with concerned Oregonians and a coalition of animal welfare, food safety and environmental groups to put a measure of real reform on the November 2012 ballot.

Nearly 2.5 million hens are confined in battery cages in Oregon. The new measure would require that they have enough room to extend their wings, turn around and engage in more natural behaviors. It would also require that all eggs sold in the state be produced in compliance with these standards. The language was recently submitted to the Secretary of State, and we will soon be collecting the necessary signatures to qualify for the ballot. As this initiative gets underway, we will keep you posted on developing events and how you can get involved.

Washington Ballot Initiative Update: Take Action to Help Egg-Laying Hens!

 

By Gene

In January, we launched an important ballot initiative in Washington state aimed at outlawing the cruel confinement of egg-laying hens in battery cages and lessening the suffering of the 6 million hens used for egg production throughout the state. Since then, dedicated volunteers have been busy gathering the signatures necessary to put this measure on the statewide ballot in November. But as our initiative gains support, the industry is fighting back with a bill that merely gives the illusion of reform and could keep hens confined in cages indefinitely.

SB 5487 attempts to quell public concern over the cruelty of battery cage confinement by setting forth weak standards masked as animal welfare reforms. In reality, the bill offers minimal improvements that wouldn’t even go into effect until the year 2026! The battery cage is one of the cruelest forms of confinement on factory farms today, giving hens less space than the size of a sheet of paper and causing them to suffer physically and psychologically. They can’t extend their legs or wings, they lose their feathers and suffer abrasions from constantly rubbing against the bars of their cages, and they spend their lives unable to engage in even the most basic natural behaviors. It’s time that egg-laying hens are given more room to move and that’s exactly what our initiative aims to achieve.

Unfortunately, industry-backed SB 5487 recently passed in the Washington House of Representatives. But there’s still time to speak out and make change before the senate votes. Washingtonians, please reach out to your state senators ASAP and ask them not to concur with SB 5487. Please also urge your friends to do the same. And if you haven’t already, visit our website to find out how you can sign up for campaign updates and get involved. 

This initiative is one part of our multi-state Anti-Confinement Campaign efforts. If you don’t live in Washington state, you can still help egg-laying hens and other farm animals suffering on factory farms by supporting legislation in places like Massachusetts or Florida, or by working to introduce similar laws in your state.

Ohio Livestock Board Turns Back on Veal Calves

 

By Gene

Last year, caring citizens took to the streets across the state of Ohio and helped collect 500,000 signatures of registered voters to place an initiative on the statewide ballot to ban some of the cruelest forms of factory farming confinement: veal crates for calves, gestation crates for pigs, and battery cages for egg-laying hens. On the day these signatures were to be turned in, agribusiness came to the table and negotiated a compromise agreement, brokered by former Governor Ted Strickland, to phase out veal and gestation crates, and to prevent the construction of any new battery cage operations.

The newly-created Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board (OLCSB) is responsible for implementing parts of the agreement, but recently voted to allow calves to be confined in veal crates, where they are kept in a state of misery, for most of their lives. This is a blatant violation of the compromise agreement and an affront to basic animal welfare principles. If you live in Ohio, please write to the OLCSB and urge them to reverse their position on veal crates when they meet again on April 5.

We can still submit the 500,000 signatures we collected last year to place this issue before Ohio voters, and if the OLCSB insists on defending veal crates, we’ll be heading to the ballot!

Anti-Confinement Progress: The Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act

 

by Allan Kornberg, M.D.

As Farm Sanctuary’s executive director, I spend a lot of my time traveling across the country to advocate on behalf of farm animals. But at the end of the day, I call Massachusetts my home. That’s why I’m excited to announce that, as part of our Anti-Confinement Campaign, we’ll be working in the Commonwealth this year to pass an important bill that would ban the cruelest forms of confinement for farm animals — the Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.

It’s not news that the animal agriculture industry views farm animals as mere commodities. It’s this widespread conception that has led to institutionalized cruelty in the form of battery cages, veal crates and gestation crates. In these confinement systems, millions of egg-laying hens, calves and breeding pigs spend the majority of their lives in dark warehouses, behind bars and barely able to move. Farm Sanctuary’s Anti-Confinement Campaign aims to eliminate these particularly abhorrent conditions through state legislation, the ballot box and public education and outreach, and, thanks to our members and supporters, we’ve got a successful history to build upon in 2011 and in coming years. 

Seven states have now enacted laws to ban one or more of these confinement systems. This year, we hope to add Massachusetts to that list. This bill, recently introduced by Senator Robert Hedlund and Representative Jason Lewis, would prohibit the cruel confinement of farm animals in a manner that prevents them from standing up, lying down, turning around freely, or fully extending their limbs.

At least 17,000 egg-laying hens in Massachusetts are confined in battery cage facilities each year. As a resident of the Commonwealth, I know that if compassionate people of Massachusetts — and Americans everywhere — knew the truth behind factory farming, they would reject these shocking and abusive practices. In fact, the city of Pittsfield has already enacted a local ordinance prohibiting these three confinement systems. And Cambridge and Brookline have passed resolutions encouraging residents to avoid products of intensive confinement, including veal and eggs from battery caged hens.

By working together with our members and supporters, I believe it’s only a matter of time before we can change the hearts and minds of lawmakers across the U.S. and make these cruel cages and crates things of the past. If you’re a fellow Commonwealth resident, please join me in supporting the Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act and help put this crucial law on the books. If you live elsewhere, you can still help us build on this momentum by taking action today to push for anti-confinement legislation in your state.