California’s victory for farm animals had its start here in Florida
November 5th, 2008 by admin
Yesterday, voters in California overwhelmingly approved a measure that prohibits the confinement of chickens in battery cages, young cows in veal crates and female pigs in gestation crates. Over 60% of Californians accepted the common sense idea that animals should have, at the very least, enough room to stretch their wings, turn around, stand up or lie down comfortably. The measure takes effect in 2015.
Six years ago today- November 5, 2002- voters in Florida approved the nation’s first ban on cruel farming practices. Over 2 1/2 million Floridians voted to outlaw the use of gestation crates, which are barren, two-foot-wide metal enclosures in which female pigs used for breeding spend most of their lives. Since then, three states (Arizona, Oregon and Colorado) have followed Florida in banning gestation crates. The use of veal crates is also prohibited in Arizona and Colorado. California is the first state to address the suffering of hens in egg farms (there are 20 million egg-laying hens in California!).