Urgent Action Needed to Help Farmed Animals in CA!

Two months ago, at a yearly meeting of animal advocacy organizations, several influential groups, including AAVS, agreed to support an important, groundbreaking campaign to improve the lives of farmed animals in California. We are pleased to announce that the precedent-setting legislation, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, has been certified for the November 2008 ballot!

As you may know, animals on industrial factory farms suffer tremendously as they are confined in cages so small they can't turn around or stretch their limbs. Veal calves are often chained by the neck. Pigs are housed in metal cages barely larger than their bodies. Hens are forced to live in less space than a letter-sized sheet of paper. The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act would eliminate such practices by banning veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages on industrial factory farms. In doing so, the measure will improve the lives of farmed animals in California, and would set the stage for further action that could be enacted countrywide.

Issues of human health are also at stake. For example, a recent Humane Society of the United States' investigation of a Chino slaughter plant exposed the cruel treatment of downer cows, threatening the safety of school children and leading to the largest meat recall in American history. In this case, cramming thousands or even tens of thousands of animals into a single factory presents serious public health concerns. The Center for Food Safety and the Union of Concerned Scientists have both endorsed these measures.

Additionally, the Act's modest reforms will not be costly to implement. The egg industry's own California-based economist reports that producing cage-free eggs costs less than one penny per egg more. This ballot measure gives farmers until 2015 to phase in more humane production practices.

Similar ballot measures have been overwhelmingly approved by voters in Arizona and Florida. And an independent commission, the Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Production, has stated that the ballot measure includes "the types of modest animal welfare public policy improvements that the Commissioners recommend implementing."

What You Can Do:
All animals deserve humane treatment, including those raised for food. If you live in California, please be sure to make your family and friends aware of the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. And be sure to vote YES! on your November ballot and encourage others to do the same.

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