New Jersey Bans ‘Extreme Confinement’ Crates for Pigs and Calves
The controversial farming method keeps animals in crates so small that they cannot even turn around.
An example of gestation crates in the US. Credit: HSUS.
New Jersey has banned the use of gestation crates, which are used to confine mother pigs and calves raised for veal in a space so small that the animals are unable to turn around.
Gestation crates have long been controversial but remain widely-used across the US. Animal welfare campaigners say that the crates are incredibly cruel, and result in animals being kept in “extreme confinement” for their entire lives.
Now, after a decade-plus campaign, a bill to ban gestation crates in New Jersey was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy on July 26th.
“There is no justifiable reason to keep pregnant sows or newly born calves in heartbreakingly cruel and inhumane conditions that prohibit them from even turning around in their quarters”, said Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, who sponsored the bill alongside Senator Vin Gopal.
An extensive coalition comprising over 60 business, environmental organizations, and animal protection groups had pushed for the legal reform. The coalition welcomed the ruling, noting that it will help enhance public health, promote food safety, and reduce animal suffering on factory farms.
The crates are so small that the pigs are unable to turn around. Credit: HSI
The bill also had overwhelming public support, with polls suggesting that over 93 percent of New Jersey residents supported the legislation.
As well as animal welfare concerns, public health was a major factor in the bill’s passing. COVID-19 highlighted the need for reform within industrial animal agriculture, with numerous scientists and a landmark United Nations report on pandemic risks stating that the extreme confinement of farmed animals is one of the top drivers of zoonotic disease and its spread.
Credit: HSI
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) explains many mother pigs in the industrial pork industry are forced to eat, sleep and defecate in cages so small that they cannot even turn around. Such conditions have been shown to increase the spread of diseases, and HSUS says New Jersey’s move will help properly address both animal misery and the public health risks.
Extreme Confinement on US Farms is Widespread
Currently in the United States, around seventy percent of US breeding sows (female pigs used for breeding) are confined to gestation crates - small metal cages that are so small that the pigs can barely move, and cannot turn around. Similarly, the majority of America’s 300 million-plus egg-laying hens are kept their entire lives in battery cages, which are small and tightly-packed cages where the hens are unable to spread their wings.
New Jersey now joins 11 other states that have moved away from or prohibited the extreme confinement of pigs.
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