Some Good News for Animals

Two major announcements regarding farm animal welfare provide some measure of celebration for animals in these trying times.

First, in Ohio, activists have been working to get a proposition on the ballot, much like those successfully run in Arizona and California. Instead of proceeding with the ballot initiative, Ohioans for Humane Farms (supported by the Farm Sanctuary, the Humane Society of the United States, and other animal advocacy groups) agreed to drop their campaign if the state's agricultural industry agreed to several reforms, including a ban on veal crates, a ban on gestation crates, and other measures (which are outlined in this Farm Sanctuary press release).

Second, according to an HSUS press release, today California's Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill that requires by January 2015, all eggs sold in California

come from hens able to stand up, fully extend their limbs, lie down and spread their wings without touching each other or the sides of their enclosure, thus requiring cage-free conditions for the birds.

Otherwise, laying hens are kept in cruel battery cages. Imagine if you had so sit on a metal folding chair your whole life - you can't move, you can't stand, you can't stretch. That's what a battery cage is like. Kudos to Schwarzenegger for signing the bill into law.