Supreme Court Votes to Uphold California Law that Bans ‘Extreme Confinement’ for Pigs, Hens, and Calves
The pork industry fought to repeal the farm animal welfare laws that ban the likes of gestation crates, which are so small that caged animals cannot turn around.
An example of gestation crates in the US. Credit: The HSUS.
The Supreme Court has voted to uphold a California law that bans the extreme confinement of farmed animals.
California’s Proposition 12 - referred to as America’s strongest farm animal welfare law - requires that mother pigs, hens used for eggs, and calves raised for veal are given at least enough space to stand up, turn around, and extend their limbs.
The law applies to all pork, egg and veal products produced or sold in California.
Californians voted overwhelmingly in favor of stronger animal protection laws and the implementation of Proposition 12 in the state back in 2018. The vote was led by a coalition of non-profit organizations and was supported by more than 600 California veterinarians and veterinary clinics, and over 100 California family farmers.
Credit: The HSUS.
But the pork industry has since then mounted several lawsuits against allowing farmed animals to have more space. So far all of these lawsuits have been unsuccessful.
Now, this week’s Supreme Court ruling is the clearest legal message yet that the extreme confinement of farmed animals is not acceptable in California, and strengthens the case for similar laws across the US.
The Supreme Court’s decision came after the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation filed a lawsuit against Proposition 12, who argued that compliance with giving farmed animals more space would increase production costs.
Supporters of Proposition 12 say that the pork industry has spent millions of dollars over the last five years trying to overturn the new animal welfare laws. But on May 11th, America’s highest court definitively ruled that the pork industry’s efforts had failed, and voted to uphold Proposition 12.
A Historic Victory
Lewis Bollard, Farm Animal Welfare Program Officer at Open Philanthropy, explains that a negative ruling could have been disastrous for US farmed animals. “It could have invalidated all of Prop 12, which directly benefits roughly 40 million hens and 700,000 sows producing eggs and pork for Californians”, explains Bollard. “And it could have set a precedent that wiped out about 20 more state and local laws banning the sale of cruelly produced goods, from caged eggs to fur and foie gras.”
Credit: The HSUS.
Bollard also notes that the ruling is the first time ever that the Supreme Court has upheld an animal welfare law.
“It’s astonishing that pork industry leaders would waste so much time and money on fighting this commonsense step to prevent products of relentless, unbearable animal suffering from being sold in California", says Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). "We’re delighted that the Supreme Court has upheld California Proposition 12 – the nation’s strongest farm animal welfare law – and made clear that preventing animal cruelty and protecting public health are core functions of our state governments.”
The Fight to End Extreme Confinement
Currently in the United States, over seventy percent of US breeding sows (female pigs used for breeding) are permanently 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.
“We won’t stop fighting until the pork industry ends its cruel, reckless practice of confining mother pigs in cages so small they can’t even turn around” says HSUS’s Kitty Block.
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