Posted on 11/05/2008 9:48:28 AM PST by WilliamReading
11-05) 08:17 PST SACRAMENTO -- A measure that would ban farmers from raising egg-laying hens, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages and crates by 2015 appeared to be headed for victory this morning.
Supporters of Proposition 2 said the initiative would guarantee farm animals a better life, giving them the space they need to stand up, turn around, lie down and extend their wings, as well as prevent diseases caused by overcrowding.
Opponents argue that the measure would put California's egg industry out of business, as well as put consumers at risk for disease from imported eggs produced in countries with less stringent standards.
Voters seemed to be siding with the Humane Society of the United States, the backers of the initiative.
With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, the "Stop Animal Cruelty" measure was winning by 63 percent.
"California voters have taken a stand for decency and compassion and said that the systemic mistreatment of animals on factory farms cannot continue," said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief operating officer of the Humane Society. "All animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food."
Florida, Arizona, Colorado and Oregon have passed similar laws for swine and veal.
But California would be the first state in the nation to demand that all egg-producing chickens be kept in more spacious enclosures or free to roam around a henhouse.
Most pig and veal farmers in the state already have gone to larger pen sizes for their animals, making the battle mostly between poultry ranchers and animal-rights activists.
California produces about 6 percent of the nation's table eggs, a $330 million business in 2007. Fifty percent of the eggs sold in California come from other states.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
California is weird, isn’t it?
It won early. The largest vote for then any other Prop in history.
Get a few chickens for pets and let them run around in your yard... you get fresh eggs every day and they eat all your bugs. Plus you may have to go veggie... beef and pork will be $20 a pound.
How about requiring air conditioning and cable tv for the chickens as well?
As a vegetarian, I see this as only a good thing.
Flame away!
I live on the 5th floor of an apartment building. I wonder if the neighbors would mind if I started raising chickens on the patio?
Arizona and Nevada chicken and egg business: Buy stock in it.
Great! We’ll kill our un-born children...but we protect those chickens.... I must be living in an alternate universe because CLEARLY the rest of America disagree with me.
THANK GOD!
Oh, chickens are easy to raise on your own. A great addition to anyone’s garden, providing zoning allows it.
One of DH’s friends, an agricultural engineer, works for a farm equipment company that makes those cages. Studies show that the hens in pairs or trios in cages are under less stress than free-range birds. In two’s or three’s, they soon work out their pecking order and settle in.
With our free range birds we have battled raccoons, possums, skunks, owls and even possibly a wildcat (rare in this area) I can the advantages of confinement for the birds’ safety.
We shouldn’t confuse ourselves with the facts, though. (/sarcasm)
One of our neighbors has chickens. I’d love to do the same, but we travel and I don’t think the kennel that boards our dogs would take chickens. :)
Are you a conservative vegetarian?
wish I could have a few chickens...but in Los Angeles, hmmmm especially in our area, that would be frowned on....
Meanwhile, children are sent back to abusive, drug-using parents. Great, isn’t it?
I lived in LA for 25 years and had 4 of them...built a moveable coop and moved it around the yard... one tip: don’t get roosters, they make a lot of noise and the neighbors don’t like it.
“But California would be the first state in the nation to demand that all egg-producing chickens be kept in more spacious enclosures or free to roam around a henhouse.”
I see absolutely zero problems with this.
Three hens spend their entire egg laying life in a 1 foot cube box. What hurts in giving them more space or free roam.
We once had several houses of layers I know I have been there so flame away.
I heard O family was celebrating in Kenya by slaughtering animals!!
Voters in California saw no reason to allow genuine cruelty upon animals raised for food. There is Biblical basis for this. A righteous man shows mercy upon his beast. But, the more-gentle practices of the farmer, a man or a woman or an entire family with a conscience, have given way to mechanized, industrial scale food production, from start to finish. Will Californians pay more for eggs, chicken, pork, veal and beef? Probably. Will this be a boon to nearby states that do not prohibit such practices? Probably. But, this is no reason to mock California voters. There are plenty enough reasons other than this.
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