Why are states passing these laws?
Consumer Demand
Today’s consumers are the driving force behind these laws. California’s Prop 12 passed with 2/3 of the vote, and 3/4 of Massachusetts’s voters supported Question 3. When a state’s residents are given a chance to vote on the elimination of cruel animal confinement, they show overwhelming support. Polling conducted by Data for Progress found that 80% of U.S. voters favor a law like proposition 12 within their state, including roughly equal percentages of Republicans and Democrats.
65% of people
believe companies should only purchase more humane meat, eggs, and dairy products.
“It's a consumer-driven trend… People are learning more about how their food is produced.”
-Jonathan Spurway, spokesman for egg producer, Rembrandt Foods
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporations have listened to consumers and committed to improving their meat and egg sourcing standards. Globally, more than 1,000 companies around the world have said they would eliminate cages and/or crates from their supply chains. These laws will help ensure that there will be enough meat and eggs to meet corporate commitments.
“We recognize that sows in the pork industry may experience negative health and behavioral impacts when housed in gestation stalls (also known as gestation crates) during pregnancy… By 2025, Kroger will source 100% of fresh pork from suppliers and farms that have transitioned away from gestation stalls.”
-Kroger, Animal Welfare Policy
Animal Welfare
Consumers and corporations are motivated to support these changes because of their concern over how animals are treated. Extreme confinement violates several of the 5 freedoms of animal welfare, notably the freedom from discomfort, freedom from fear and distress, and the freedom to express normal behavior. Sows in gestation crates, calves in veal crates, and hens in cages have their ability to move severely limited, which prevents most behaviors that would be natural for them. Sows in gestation crates show signs of chronic frustration and stress, biting at the bars of the crate. Hens in cages peck at their cage mates. Eliminating crates and cages alleviates physical and psychological stress for these species.
“There’s nothing humane about keeping a sow in a seven-foot-by-two-foot crate for the four-month gestation period.”
-Chris Oliviero, General Manager at Niman Ranch