Californians at Work to Protect Farmed Animals through Laws

Animal Equality is part of a coalition of farmed animal protection groups leading a movement to establish more rigorous animal welfare laws in California.

The coalition has filed a ballot initiative with the state’s Attorney General so that a statewide campaign can begin to get the measure on the ballot. The initiative, called the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act, requires that pigs and calves raised for meat are raised without being confined to cruel cages. It will also require that all eggs sold in California must come from cage-free hens. These rules, once approved, would give California some of the strictest farmed animal welfare regulations in the country. Even in California, animals still languish in confinement and are abused. This initiative will help free millions of animals from cages, helping them avoid the darkest realities of factory farming. “California has often led the way in terms of protections for farmed animals but there is much more work to be done,” said Jose Valle, Animal Equality’s Director of Investigations. He added: “We recognize that cage-free doesn’t mean cruelty-free, but for millions of animals this measure is a giant step in the right direction.” And as Prop 2, which laid out minimum cage sizes, passed with 64% of the vote in California in 2008, we are confident this measure will be approved by voters in 2018.