Groundbreaking effort for farm animals, California

[Guest guest]

Please Forward and Distribute Widely to reach California residents!

 

A Proposed Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act:

 

Groundbreaking Effort for Farm Animals Underway in California -

 

http://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/wam/msg822.jsp?msgid=5616 & id822=5618

-1 & folder=INBOX & x=390893443

 

Farm Sanctuary, in conjunction with The Humane Society of the United

States, has launched a ground-breaking ballot initiative effort to

outlaw some of the most inhumane farm animal confinement systems in

the state: veal crates for baby calves, gestation crates for mother

pigs

and battery cages for laying hens.

 

On October 1, 2007 citizens throughout the state began a massive

effort

to gather the 650,000 signatures needed to qualify the Prevention of

Farm Animal Cruelty Act for placement on the September 2008

California

ballot. Volunteers have only about five months to complete their

signature-gathering efforts to achieve this goal—and help save

millions

of farm animals a year from tremendous suffering. Your help is needed!

 

If you are a California resident, please contact Californians for

Humane Farms and find out how you can participate in this historic

effort for farm animals.

 

***If you are not a California resident, please forward this email to

all your friends and family members who live in California.

 

Why California?

 

Polling has consistently shown that most Americans oppose the cruelty

of veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages, yet it is

extremely

difficult to convince the legislature to pass laws banning these

confinement systems, thanks to the influence that huge factory

farming

corporations exert over many legislative offices.

 

The ballot initiative system was implemented to solve this problem,

by

allowing citizens to place an issue on the ballot for a vote directly

by the people. This presents a great opportunity for animals, as it

allows animal protection advocates the opportunity to circumvent the

pressure that big agribusiness companies exert over the legislature

and

bring humane issues directly to the people for a vote.

 

California is one of just a handful of states that allows the ballot

initiative system, and it is also the largest agricultural state in

the

U.S.—providing us with an excellent opportunity to save millions of

animals a year from extreme, gratuitous suffering on factory farms.

 

The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act is supported by a broad

coalition of animal protection groups, veterinarians,

environmentalists, and food safety advocates, all of whom oppose the

growth of huge factory farms in the state and their terrible impacts

on

animals, the environment and food safety.

 

Background:

 

Veal crates are narrow wooden enclosures, typically 2 feet wide,

which

prevent calves from turning around or lying down comfortably for the

duration of their short, miserable lives.

 

Gestation crates are 2-by-7 feet enclosures that confine 400-pound

breeding sows on factory farms for most of their lives. The sows are

freed only briefly to be moved to similarly restrictive farrowing

crates to give birth.

 

Battery cages are used to confine 95 percent of all laying hens in

the

U.S. and allow giant egg farms to pack hundreds of thousands of hens

into a single shed. The cages are so small that each hen has a living

space smaller than a sheet of typing paper.

 

All these confinement systems are so cruel that they are already

banned

throughout much of Europe. In the U.S., a growing number of

restaurants, supermarkets and even producers have pledged to stop

using

them, based on their inherent cruelty.

 

In the past few years alone, we have succeeded in banning gestation

crates by ballot initiative in Florida, and a similar ballot

initiative

in Arizona banned gestation and veal crates. This year Oregon became

the first state in the nation to ban gestation crates by a

legislative

vote.

 

Please be part of history and help us reduce the suffering of

millions

of animals in California!

 

***If you don't live in California, please pass this alert on to

anyone

you know who lives there, as only registered voters can sign

petitions.

 

Find out what you can do in your state or contact us by e-mail:

 

campaigns

 

To find out what can be done in your state!

 

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection

organization. Since incorporating in 1986, we have worked to expose

and

stop cruel practices of the " food animal " industry through research

and

investigations, legal and legislative actions, public awareness

projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Our

shelters in Watkins Glen, NY and Orland, CA 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. For more information about Farm Sanctuary or our programs,

please visit -

 

www.farmsanctuary.org

 

Or call 607-583-2225.

 

Please forward and distribute widely!

 

Thank You for extending your compassion for farmed animals,

Janice Blue

ISWA