California's Proposition 2

Proposition 2, also known as The California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, will be on your ballots this November. If this act passes it will prohibit the cruel confinement of farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.

By allowing these modest animal welfare improvements, it will allow the animals to engage in their natural behavior and satisfy their physical needs, which makes the animals healthier and safer for human consumption.

Also due to the large numbers of animal confinement in close quarter (i.e. factory farming) it allows for illness to spread rapidly. As I have written about in previous blogs regarding Factory farming, it is also a serious environmental issue. Housing large number of animals in a small space leads to ground water contamination, over grazing of pastures, and animal waste management issues.

California is not the only one with this type of law. Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Oregon has all passed similar laws. According to the industry's own trade journals and other studies, it costs less than one penny per egg to produce cage free eggs. Yes, the Factory Farms will have to reduce the number of animals they use for production and maybe prices will go up a little, but Factory Farming is not the way to do food animal production.

Here are two videos put together by the Humane Society of the United States and Free Range Studios. The first one is a fun PSA about Proposition 2, while the second one shows real images of Factory Farming and does contain scenes of animal cruelty.







For more information about Factory Farming see my blog from June 25, 2008.