On November 4th Californians can improve the quality of life for as many as 20 million animals in our state by voting “Yes” on proposition 2, which would create a minimum standard for confining farm animals. Prop 2 is one of the most simple laws ever drafted, and consists of basically one sentence, which says an animal must be able to stand, lay down and turn around inside it”s cage. This law would mainly affect laying hens, veal calves and breeding sows, which are currently unable to do anything but stand in the case of the calves and sows, or lay in their cages with their heads sticking out of “battery” cages in the case of laying hens.
If you treated your pet this way you would be guilty of animal cruelty and could be arrested, but there is no such protection for those tens of millions of animals bound for our dinner table or producing food for us, who suffer EVERY minute of their lives, all day and night long. Prop 2 will give ranchers 6 years to comply with the new law, which in the case of laying hens would only require that the cage walls be a mere four inches wider apart, hardly a luxurious existence but certainly an improvement over never being able to move their wings or stand up-ever! This new cage configuration will mean a modest amount will have to be spent by egg producers over the next 6 years, which will amount to a few pennies per dozen eggs to be able to treat millions of laying hens with a minimal level of decency.
Veal calves and breeding sows will also need minor changes made to their stalls, which again will have a small, one-time cost and the ranchers will have six years to comply with.
The industry has spun several myths about this proposition, saying prop 2 will cause disease, a ruined egg industry and increased health risks and costs to consumers. They claim that prop 2 means “effectively banning modern housing”, and birds will have to be kept “free range”, where they may come into contact with wild birds that could carry diseases. Of course this is an outright lie, prop 2 will do nothing of the sort, as egg laying hens will still be kept indoors and in cages, just in slightly bigger ones. The industry claims they can already stand and turn around, but if they were telling the truth why would they be fighting so hard to defeat a law that they are already complying with?
The industry also says it will bankrupt California egg producers, but the truth is that six states already have similar laws, including Oregon and Arizona.
The real reason the egg producers want Prop 2 to fail is that they know if California passes it, the odds are much greater that similar measures will soon be passed nationwide. That”s why the companies putting the most money into efforts to defeat this measure are based out-of-state, and they would actually benefit if their dire predictions about California producers were true.
Prop 2 has exceptions for transporting animals, research and veterinary and 4-H programs, and will only require a small, one-time cost per-animal to provides them with a life that isn”t one of constant torture for EVERY minute of their lives.
Philip Murphy
Lakeport
