Farm Sanctuary Applauds Colorado for Passing Legislation Phasing out Veal and Gestation Crates

2008-05-14 23:56:58 -

- Farm Sanctuary Tricia Barry, 607-583-2225 ext. 233 tricia@farmsanctuary.org or Angela Barker, 607-583-2225 ext. 256 abarker@farmsanctuary.org The movement to end the use of intensive confinement systems for farm animals is gaining momentum in the U.S. On Wednesday, May 14, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 201 (S.B. 201) into state law, making Colorado the second state to ban the use of veal crates for calves, and the fourth state to ban gestation crates for breeding pigs. Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization, applauds Colorado in joining Florida, Arizona and Oregon in outlawing gestation crates, and joining Arizona in outlawing veal crates.

"The Colorado legislature and Governor Ritter are to be commended for addressing great public concern calling for basic farm animal welfare in banning these egregiously abusive confinement systems," stated Farm Sanctuary Director of Campaigns Julie Janovsky. "The passage of this modest measure recognizes that animals are not mere production units and at the very least should be provided with enough room to move. As Colorado joins the trend of nations who eliminated intensive confinement of animals, we hope that they will take the next step and apply this humane policy to end the use of battery cages which now house 3.6 million egg-laying hens in Colorado."

The European Union will have effectively banned veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages by 2012 and California recently certified an anti-confinement initiative, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act co-sponsored by Farm Sanctuary, for the November 2008 ballot. If passed, veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages would be phased out in the largest agricultural state in the U.S.

Gestation crates are among the most restrictive and cruel forms of intensive confinement widely used in factory farms. The 2-foot-wide crates are so restrictive that they prevent sows from turning around or taking more than a step for the duration of each of their four month pregnancies. Giving birth to two litters per year, these intelligent creatures live most of their lives in this constricted manner, and they suffer from extensive leg and joint disorders, as well as psychological neuroses.

Millions of male calves are born to dairy cows every year and approximately 698,000 are sold to the veal industry. Most veal calves are taken away from their mothers immediately after birth and tethered inside 2-foot-wide wooden crates where they cannot turn around, stretch their limbs or lie down comfortably. The calves are fed a liquid, fiber-free and iron-deficient diet that causes anemia and produces the pale flesh known as "white" veal. This diet causes chronic diarrhea, which these calves are forced to wallow in under this extreme confinement until they are slaughtered at about 18 weeks.

Facts:

-- S.B. 201 is set to phase out veal crates in four years and gestation crates in 10 years.

-- Colorado's factory farms currently confine approximately 150,000 breeding sows in gestation crates.

-- The veal industry does not exist in Colorado, yet the state's Dairy industry is welcoming out-of-state interest in the production and marketing of this cruel product.

-- Last year, the American Veal Association recommended the phasing out of cruel veal crates and Smithfield Foods (the largest pork producer in the U.S.) has announced a gradual phase-out of gestation crates.

-- Companies such as Safeway, Burger King, Carl's Jr. and Hardees and Wolfgang Puck are in the process of phasing out the purchase of products created through the use of intensive confinement systems.

-- The Pew Trust recently released a two and a half year study by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production which concluded that intensive confinement systems, such as veal and gestation crates and battery cages should be phased out, and that the current industrial farm animal production systems often pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.

Colorado Joins Other States and Countries in Banning Two of the
Most Abusive Factory Farm Confinement Systems