Prestigious Pew Commission Supports California Anti-Cruelty Measure

	©Farm Sanctuary
	The confinement of laying hens in battery cages causes severe distress.

In a landmark two-year study released by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, a panel of renowned experts concluded that factory farms pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and animal welfare.

The Commission's recommendations include a phase-out of "the most intensive and inhumane confinement practices"—gestation and veal crates and battery cages. A pending anti-cruelty California ballot initiative seeks to phase out the same three abuses.

Just a few weeks ago, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act officially qualified for the ballot after nearly 800,000 Californians signed petitions in support of considering the initiative on Election Day. This modest but important measure will provide the most basic protection to farm animals: that they merely have the ability to turn around and extend their limbs.

"Pew's esteemed panel of scientists, veterinary school officials, ranchers, and public officials has emphatically recommended moving away from cages and crates on factory farms, and that's exactly what our proposed ballot initiative prescribes for California," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "It is cruel and inhumane to confine animals in cages so small they can barely move for nearly their whole lives, nor are these confinement systems good for public health or the environment. The panel's recommendations come at a perfect time as Californians consider this ballot measure."

©Anonymous for Animal Rights, Israel
The Pew Commission condemns intensive confinement in factory farming, like that commonly used in veal production.

The Commission's two-year investigation encompassed site visits to production facilities across the country, consultation with industry stakeholders, public health, medical, and agriculture experts, public meetings, and peer-reviewed technical reports.

The Commission was chaired by former Kansas governor John Carlin and included, among others, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman; Dr. Michael Blackwell, former Dean of the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine; Niman Ranch founder and rancher Bill Niman; author and professor Marion Nestle; and Colorado State University distinguished professor Dr. Bernard Rollin.

Confinement Causes "Severe Distress"

The experts concluded that "Intensive confinement (e.g. gestation crates for swine, battery cages for laying hens) often so severely restricts movement and natural behaviors, such as the ability to walk or lie on natural materials, having enough floor space to move with some freedom, and rooting for pigs, that it increases the likelihood that the animals suffer severe distress."

	©Compassion Over Killing
	Intensive confinement is increasingly coming under fire.

The Commission's report comes at a time when there has never been a greater movement away from the factory farming abuses that it criticizes.

Not only is California's Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act gathering momentum, but a Colorado bill is awaiting the governor's signature to ban both gestation crates and veal crates.

Florida, Arizona and Oregon have prohibited gestation crates in recent years, with Arizona also prohibiting veal crates. The European Union already legislated against all three of these abuses.

With so many individuals, states and sectors weighing in, the time has clearly come time for an end to intensive confinement. On Election Day, California voters will have the opportunity to bring that reality into focus.   

Related Links

Pew Commission Says Industrial Scale Farm Animal Production Poses “Unacceptable” Risks to Public Health, Environment

A California Educator Puts Farm Animals on the Ballot One Signature at a Time

'No Battery Eggs' Campaign Exposes the Hard-Boiled Truth about Laying Hens

Think Outside the Crate Campaign