This fall, Californians will have one more compelling reason to flock to the voting booth: We will finally have a chance to outlaw several very common forms of animal cruelty practiced by factory farmed chicken, pig and veal producers. (Story in the Herald Tribune can be found here).
"California voters will consider the most comprehensive farm animal rights law in the country, a measure that would ban cramped metal cages for egg-laying hens, metal gestation crates for pregnant sows and veal crates for calves standard industry practices in which the animals are kept so confined that they can barely move."
While it seems obvious that such laws are long overdue, in fact the egg producers and other industrial food giants will do everything in their power to convince the public that their torture cages are actually a device that protects us from avian diseases, as well as lower the prices we pay at the grocery store. Never mind that animal suffering and filthy conditions also require the routine administration of expensive antibiotics and hormones to fatten up the poor beasts.
It is an outrage that routine animal suffering is part and parcel of food production in this country (and elsewhere). This is a moral issue, and I urge you to join me in using this opportunity to make life more bearable for millions of food animals. You don't have to be a vegetarian or vegan to care about animal welfare, any more than you have to be part of organized religion in order to live a spiritual life.
Similar laws already exist in Colorado, Oregon, Florida and Arizona. Because California is the fifth largest egg producing state in the country, this is likely to be a hotly contested piece of legislation with far reaching consequences.
With everything in me, I implore you to get involved and pester your friends to get to the poles and vote toward a more humane life for our food animals.
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