Meat groups sue over California cage-free law

Two agricultural groups have filed a legal challenge to a new California law establishing animal welfare standards that could affect producers throughout the country.

The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation filed the challenge against Proposition 12, a ballot measure passed last year and known as the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act.

Broadly, the law establishes cage-free standards for egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal, prohibiting businesses in the state from selling eggs or uncooked pork or veal that came from animals housed in ways that don’t meet the requirements. The rules are set to go into effect over the next three years.

While some groups, like the Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, supported the measure, others have argued it will seriously jeopardize producers.

“Proposition 12 revolves around a set of arbitrary standards that lack any scientific, technical or agricultural basis, and will only serve to inflict further harm on U.S. hog farmers,” Jen Sorenson, vice president of the National Pork Producers Council, said in a December 6 statement announcing the lawsuit. “California represents approximately 15% of the U.S. pork market, and Proposition 12 will force hog farmers who want to sell pork into the populous state to switch to alternative housing systems, at a significant cost to their business.”

In late November, a California judge rejected a motion for an injunction, requested by the North American Meat Institute, that would have stopped the rule from going into effect.

“California voted to enact the strongest protections for farmed animals in the country,” Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said in response to the judge’s decision. “The North American Meat Institute is trying to thwart Californians’ clear resolve. It is our intention to ensure Prop 12 remains the law.”