Tuesday, October 7, 2008

California Proposition 2


Proposition 2 on the California ballot would add a chapter to Division 20 of California's Health and Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure would deal with three types of confinement: veal crates, battery cages for chickens, and sow gestation crates. Wikipedia has a good summary of it and the arguments for and against it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_2.
Egg producing chickens spend their entire lives in cages like this one photographed by the Humane Society of the U.S. I don't agree with the HSUS on every issue, but this one is clear to me. This is not humane.
Industry representatives argue that keeping chickens in small flocks is inhumane, that they are dirty and sick. I can understand the industry arguing that they make more money from chickens so crowded in their cages they cannot even extend their wings, but to argue that chickens living in more natural conditions are not safe and healthy is crazy.
"This outdoor access enhances the likelihood that such poultry will have direct contact with migratory and wild birds as well as other animals, substantially increasing the risk of Avian Influenza, Exotic Newcastle Disease and other diseases," according to the United States Animal Health Organization, quoted at Californiasn for Safe Food, http://safecaliforniafood.org/. This kind of industry organization masquerading as a grass roots or public interest organization is called astro-turf, because it is misleading as to who its constituents are.
Farm Sanctuary, http://www.farmsanctuary.org/get_involved/yesonprop2.html, says "Prop 2 is a modest proposal, simply asking that these animals receive the most basic considerations, yet it prompts a dramatic shift in the public’s recognition that these animals are sentient, deserving of protection and should not be treated as mere commodities. "
The American Egg Board, http://www.aeb.org/egg_industry.html, notes that flocks of 100,000 laying hens are not unusual in the major egg producing states and some flocks number more than 1 million. Each of the 235 million laying birds in the U.S. produces between 250 to 300 eggs a year.
The United Egg Producers http://www.uepcertified.com, recommends 67 to 86 inches per bird, less than the area of a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Since that exceeds by so much what the egg industry offers their hens, they recommend phasing in such extreme changes over five years. To ask for more faster would inconvenience their members.
Surely those birds deserve a better quality of life. Prop 2 has given us a chance to hear these absurd arguments and understand the egg industry better.
The more people keep their own chickens and have fresh eggs from their own flocks, the fewer chickens will be needed in the industrial system. That's a good thing. Continuing to allow producers to increase profits by abusing the animals who produce our food is inexcusable.

3 comments:

Amy said...

I also agree that battery caged hens are not in the best of conditions. That nonsense about small flocks not being healthy is such a load of malarcky! They obviously haven't seen my birds and I resent the assumption that I can't keep my birds healthy out on free range. It is the NATURAL way to raise chickens. I don't know what this will mean for egg and meat producers. I'm sure it will cost them a bundle and ultimately the consumer in the form of higher food prices. I'm so glad I have my own flock!

John said...

The United Egg Producers is a discredited trade organization with a sordid history of consumer fraud and animal cruelty. The “UEP Certified” program allows hens to be confined in cages that provide each animal less space than a sheet of paper to spend her life. More at www.humanesociety.org/uep

Christine Heinrichs said...

UEP defends the industrial system. This was back in 2008, but the struggle goes on. Check the entry for today, June 7, 2011.