In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12—a landmark law that bans intensive confinement of laying hens, pregnant pigs, and calves used for veal.
Prop 12 is largely considered one of the world’s strongest animal protection laws. It’s now under attack.
The meat industry aims to undo years of animal protection efforts.
On October 11, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments on NPPC v. Ross, a lawsuit brought by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and American Farm Bureau Federation challenging California’s Prop 12.
Mother pigs used by the pork industry are confined in gestation crates, metal crates barely larger than the pigs’ bodies. Their muscles and bones deteriorate through lack of movement, and these intelligent animals are denied any mental stimulation.
Veal crates are similarly cruel. Within days or even hours of birth, calves raised for veal are taken from their mothers and locked in crates so cramped they can hardly move. And laying hens are packed into cages so tightly that they can’t spread their wings.
Regardless of the NPPC v. Ross outcome, the public has made its opposition to extreme animal confinement clear. It’s time for a federal law that guarantees basic protections for farmed animals. There’s no excuse for making farmed animals suffer in crates and cages.