The United Egg Producers and the Association of California Egg Farmers have backed a state bill—No. 3021—which would phase in cage-free housing requirements for all eggs sold in the state.
According to the bill, all eggs sold in California would have to come from hens that had been housed in such a way as to give them 144 square inches of usable floor space, starting in 2020. Beginning in 2024, the requirements would be increased to be a cage-free environment.
A related state referendum—the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act, backed by the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS)—involves many of the same elements, but applies to chickens, sows, and veal calves. Effectively, this referendum is a repetition of California’s 2008 Proposition 2 (Prop 2) but with the added requirements of “cage-free.” Prop 2 and following legislation that became attached to it required that all eggs, pork and veal sold in California came from animals housed in ways that allowed animals to stand up, turn around, and extend their limbs without contacting either another animal or the edges of a cage. Prop 2 did not specify “cage-free” housing, though that was a common response to the space requirements.
A group calling itself the Humane Farming Association has shot back against the HSUS-backed referendum, criticizing HSUS for “once again deceiving voters, flip-flopping on the issue of cages, and perpetuating the suffering of millions of egg-laying hens throughout California,” said the group’s director, Bradley Miller.
“The inescapable reality is that, had Prop 2 actually accomplished what HSUS promised, California would be cage-free at this very moment,” noted Miller. “Rather than correcting its historic failure, HSUS is now misusing our state’s ballot measure process with a whole new set of false promises.” — WLJ
