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Voter Chicken Caging

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 2008 6:00 AM

Submitted by FearTheReaper. Edited By nicole_powers.

TAGS: Animal RIghts, Proposition 2

Californians will be voting on a very interesting proposition in three weeks. Proposition 2 is about animal cruelty. Not the ones that live in our houses, the ones we shove in our mouths. It simply requires that we not make some of the animals we are going to eat suffer through horrible lives until they are killed.

Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.

Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.

Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.

Naturally, many people are opposed, because chickens being able to turn around in their cage will create a complete and total fucking nightmare for the people who make cages so small that chickens feet grow into the bars. The Attorney General has listed a couple of possible negatives.

Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually.

Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue.

Oh well. Seriously, oh fucking well. For those of you who don�t live in California, we have a highway that spans the state from top to bottom, the I-5. Years ago, there was a tiny farm on the edge of the I-5 that didn�t smell so good. Then it became larger and larger and larger. Now it is a city of brown cows, standing in dirt, with sprinklers firing away to keep the cows nice and wet, so they create an odor that nearly induces vomiting. It�s enough to make anyone a vegetarian. Years ago we Californians began calling it Cowschwitz. It is no longer alone. Now a drive down the Interstate 5 will involve passing four of these disgusting farms. A second is now called DaCow.

Proposition 2 does nothing to effect those horrible places. Proposition 2 only forces �farms� to allow chickens to be able to move. That�s it. Move. Same goes for pregnant pigs. The authors think a pregnant animal should be able to stand up, maybe turn around. How crazy is that?

Apparently too crazy for the good people at the LA Times, although the editorial starts out okay:

The egg industry is rife with cruelty to animals. Millions of hens in California are kept in cages so small that every natural instinct is thwarted: They cannot perch, walk or spread their wings. On some farms, cages are stacked and hens on the bottom live in waste.

All creatures, even those bred to provide food, deserve to be treated humanely. That's the appeal of Proposition 2.

Yeah, that does sound appealing. Almost human.

We fear that it would have an unintended consequence: Because it only regulates eggs produced in California and not eggs that are sold here, it would likely bolster the market for cheaper out-of-state eggs produced where farmers have no similar bans on cages.

I love it! It�s like one of them slavery arguments. Oh, but the LA Times is far from finished:

According to a University of California Agricultural Issues Center report, cage-free eggs are about 20% more expensive to produce and cost about 25% more to buy.

Really? WOW. Imagine if that fact had anything to do with Proposition 2, which would only force the industry to make cages that are slightly bigger. But thanks for the totally irrelevant fact. This is one of the big talking points against Proposition 2. Opponents keep bringing up cage free birds, as if it has any relevance. It would just allow the chickens to move around. I can only imagine how much pain would be caused by not being able to move my entire life. Seems kind of wrong.

Although Proposition 2 isn't the answer, the egg industry is due for an overhaul, and chicken farmers should take heed.

So, the egg industry is wrong but go ahead and do it, although, you should watch your ass because if you don�t, the people will vote for something like Proposition 2. Got it.

My feeling is Proposition 2 does not go nearly far enough. It does not require chickens to get natural feed or have access to sunshine. It does not require time spent running about, being a chicken. It does not stop the stacking of cages, to prevent the chickens on the bottom from being covered in shit. It only allows them to move enough to stretch and maybe turn around.

Fuck the California chicken industry if it can�t survive without such simple standards. Take your jobs and shove them up your asses.

I only eat free-range chickens, anyway. And, yes, I think meat should be more expensive.

Image courtesy of avianwelfare.org.

FearTheReaper is a writer, actor and stand up comedian. Check back each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for more from FearTheReaper and read his blog, Stop All Monsters.

31 Comments

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Glassmachine

United Kingdom

November 2004

OCT 16, 2008 06:18 AM

I can't think of a good logical argument against this.

I went vegetarian because I couldn't be sure that these kind of standards were consistently met when I was buying food here in the UK.

joker_

Windsor, CA

October 2005

OCT 16, 2008 06:31 AM

Thank you for this article, I consider this to be an important proposition. Hopefully people are motivated to start making changes to the living conditions of the animals they choose to eat.

Factory farming practices are disgusting and despicable. Legislation to protect farm animals from extremely cruel practices is currently non-existant.
Hopefully this proposition is the first of a series of changes that will force factory farms in Calfornia to either change their behavior or simply cease to exist. The people running the factory farms are some of the most callous insensitive assholes this planet currently hosts.

There are and always will be local farms over here and it really isn't that much more expensive to support them.

This proposition also addresses veal crates and piglet gestation crates; if you feel like vomiting in your mouth a little feel free to google those things.

Mark_plus_Beer

United Kingdom

August 2005

OCT 16, 2008 06:37 AM

I made a decision a while ago to only buy free-range chicken, it might cost abit more but i've always thought of it as worth the minor expense.

mydogfarted

Waldwick, NJ

June 2003

OCT 16, 2008 07:39 AM

We've started shopping at a couple of small, family run farms in the area. They produce a large basket of eggs a day, and you can purchase that days eggs for a slightly higher price than eggs produced earlier in the week. Their barns are all in sight of the store on the farm.

anonymouse

Miami Beach, FL

OLD SKOOL

OCT 16, 2008 08:33 AM

pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.

My neighbor manged to get an amendment requiring just this on the ballot in 2002, and I was so happy to be one of the 500,000 signatures that helped push it onto the ballot. It just barely passed with 54% of the vote. I'm still shocked that it passed by such a small margin, but, hey, it passed. I guess 46% of voters don't care what happens to animals before they end up in their mouths.

Here's the ballot summary:

Inhumane treatment of animals is a concern of Florida citizens; to prevent cruelty to animals and as recommended by The Humane Society of the United States, no person shall confine a pig during pregnancy in a cage, crate or other enclosure, or tether a pregnant pig, on a farm so that the pig is prevented from turning around freely, except for veterinary purposes and during the prebirthing period; provides definitions, penalties, and an effective date.

If something similar to this initiative passed in Florida and in Arizona, I imagine it will pass in California. And I agree, Prop 2 doesn't go quite far enough, but it's a start.

Necrowombicon

Northridge, CA

October 2005

OCT 16, 2008 08:41 AM

It might surprise you but there are no standards on whether a chicken is free range or not. It is the same as food marked as Organic(Organic is fucking dumb too). Chances are the chicken you are buying marked 'Free-Range' is actually just stacked caged chickens.

hellboy7

Austin, TX

July 2004

OCT 16, 2008 09:41 AM

Alright. I agree that animals should be allowed to live a humane, free-range existence. However, passing laws and regulating (forcing) or, requiring meat producers to change their practices is NOT the answer. There will be some sort of backlash, ideological or financial (farms moving to another state to avoid legislation). Unfortunately, for the chickens and for consumers, we will have to pay for those consequences.

You know the only way companies like Foster or others will listen is to call the company and verify their chickens are free range and then buy only from them. Tell your friends, relatives and co-workers. Not cause PETA told you, not because it is the law, but because your pocketbook is the biggest weapon in all of our arsenal.

I started only buying from free range produces 2 years ago, poultry and meat. I tell my friends who the producers are. When I can afford it, I go to whole foods. Also, if you have a local butcher, ask for free range meats. A few will be very accommodating.

motorfirebox

Pittsburgh, PA

March 2004

OCT 16, 2008 10:09 AM

Necrowombicon said:
It might surprise you but there are no standards on whether a chicken is free range or not. It is the same as food marked as Organic(Organic is fucking dumb too). Chances are the chicken you are buying marked 'Free-Range' is actually just stacked caged chickens.

that's not quite accurate. the USDA requires that chickens have access to the outdoors in order to qualify as free range. there are, however, no legal standards for free range eggs.

as i understand it, some "free range" farms meet the legal definition by tossing all their chickens into a barn with airholes cut into the walls. if you're looking for chicken that was raised in a natural setting without cages, the term you should apparently look for is "pastured poultry". you should avoid "cage-free", "free-roaming", and similar terms, because they generally mean "locked in a dark box with a bunch of other chickens".

FearTheReaper

NEWSWIRE

I'm lost

OCT 16, 2008 10:09 AM

Nope. I checked it out before I started buying them.

Diablolipop

Forest Lake, MN

February 2004

OCT 16, 2008 10:13 AM

by making "baby-Step" legislation like this you guarantee loopholes in the future. I am an animal lover as well as a carnivore. this will be expensive to the end consumer too. all the farms will need to retool (which costs money) that means chicken and egg's in the store cost more money. cruelty is wrong, but so is a $30 omelet.

where is the middle...

motorfirebox

Pittsburgh, PA

March 2004

OCT 16, 2008 10:16 AM

EU and UK standards for free-range meat are much more concise. anybody have any info on how they got put into place, and what kind of economic impact it had?

s5

STAFF

San Francisco, CA

OCT 16, 2008 10:26 AM

Diablolipop said:
by making "baby-Step" legislation like this you guarantee loopholes in the future. I am an animal lover as well as a carnivore. this will be expensive to the end consumer too. all the farms will need to retool (which costs money) that means chicken and egg's in the store cost more money. cruelty is wrong, but so is a $30 omelet.

where is the middle...

Prop 2 is the middle. In fact, it's even more compromised than the middle. It doesn't ban eggs, it doesn't tax them, it doesn't do anything except make very small changes to how farmers are required to do business.