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November
8, 2006
Voting
results:
* Yes - 900,754 - 61.9%
No - 554,821 - 38.1%
An
Overview of Proposition 204:
Farm
animals have the least legal protection of all animals in
our state. They deserve the modest protection that would be
given if Arizona voters approve the Humane Farming Initiative
on the November ballot.
Here
is what Proposition 204 does:
- Applies
only to pregnant pigs and calves raised for veal
- Requires
that these animals be given enough room to lie down, turn
around and fully extend their limbs
- Gives
farms plenty of time--until 2013--to comply with the new
law
- Allows
rodeos, county fairs, 4-H and similar events to go on as
usual
- Preserves
family farms
To
clear up misconceptions, Proposition 204:
- Does
NOT restrict the sale or consumption of meat
- Does
NOT change how animals are transported
- Does
NOT ban research on animals
- Does
NOT cost taxpayers any money
- Does
NOT change the methods of slaughter of animals for food
Industrialized,
factory farms owned by huge agricultural companies are sweeping
across the country and coming to Arizona. They use cruel and
inhumane methods to confine livestock. They treat pregnant
pigs and calves raised for veal like inanimate production
units, rather than thinking, feeling animals. They place them
in enclosures so small that they can't move, lie down, turn
around or even fully extend their limbs. Sows are kept constantly
pregnant, and held in these tiny crates 24 hours a day seven
days a week, for almost their entire lives. It is a horrible
existence, and it is happening here in Arizona.
To
stop cruel and inhumane treatment of farm animals, vote YES
on Proposition 204.
For
More Information:
Contact
Arizonans for Humane Farms at (480) 449-7644 or www.yesforhumanefarms.org.
Background:
Representatives
from Arizonans for Humane Farms submitted petitions with the
signatures of more than 218,000 Arizona registered voters
to the Secretary of State to secure placement on the November
ballot of an initiative to ban gestation crates for pregnant
pigs and veal crates in factory farms in Arizona.
Nearly 1,200 volunteers gathered the signatures of registered
voters across Arizona on behalf of the Humane Farms initiative
for the last 10 months. Not only did they secure signatures
from registered voters in every county in the state, but they
also exceeded the required number of 122,612 signatures by
nearly 100,000.
“We
are thrilled with the success of the campaign so far and extend
our thanks and appreciation to everyone who has supported
this effort,” said Cheryl Naumann, chairwoman of Arizonans
for Humane Farms and president and CEO of the Arizona Humane
Society. “Special thanks goes out to the 1,175 men and
women across Arizona who have volunteered on behalf of this
measure, and to the more than 218,000 Arizonans who signed
the petitions and all but cleared the way for this initiative
to be placed on the November ballot.
"Obviously,
the people of Arizona want to see animals, even those raised
for food, treated humanely. This measure simply ensures that
animals, such as pigs and calves that are raised for food,
have enough room to turn around, lie down and extend their
limbs in their pens. We cannot fathom why anyone would want
to deny this common sense and simple comfort to these helpless
animals.”
Arizonans
for Humane Farms is a coalition of animal-welfare agencies
including the Arizona Humane Society, the Animal Defense League
of Arizona, the AzSPCA (a division of the Arizona Animal Welfare
League), Farm Sanctuary, and The Humane Society of the United
States.
The
Humane Farms measure is endorsed by the Arizona Republic,
National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Center for Science
in the Public Interest, the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra
Club, the Humane Society of Southern Arizona in Tucson, the
Second Chance Center for Animals in Flagstaff, and the Yavapai
Humane Society in Prescott.
The initiative also protects Arizona’s family farms,
which are often wiped out when large, industrialized factory
farms move into their community, Naumann said.
“Factory
farms are notorious for treating animals as production units
instead of living, sentient beings who can experience pain,
fear, stress and discomfort,” she said. “Their inhumane
practices, and focus on mass production and profit, fly in
the face of traditional family farming practices which typically
do not involve torturous methods such as gestation and confinement
crates.”
There are an estimated 20,000 breeding pigs in Arizona. When
kept in two-foot-wide metal “gestation crates” during
their pregnancies, they cannot turn around or fully extend
their limbs.
A sow has a four-month pregnancy and may spend three years,
almost without interruption, in a space so small that she
cannot even turn around. Within days of giving birth, she
is impregnated again and must go back into the gestation crate
for another four-month period.
Arizona does not have a meaningful crated veal industry. This
measure would prevent the establishment of these often-massive
operations that would result in thousands of calves being
confined to small crates for the duration of their short but
miserable lives.
“Because
they are crammed into crates barely wider than their bodies,
pregnant sows and veal calves suffer muscle atrophy, weakened
joints, and a range of other physical problems. They also
endure psychological stress because they are extremely frustrated
and cannot engage in normal behaviors,” said Wayne Pacelle,
president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States,
a group with nearly 10 million constituents including 188,000
who live in Arizona - one in every 27 Arizona residents. “Even
animals raised for food deserve a decent life and a merciful
death.”
If
approved by voters, the new law would take effect at the end
of 2012, giving even the largest animal production facilities
several years to transition into more humane housing systems.
The law would apply to calves and to breeding pigs during
their pregnancies. Crates would still be allowed for veterinary
care and after birthing to prevent pigs from rolling over
and crushing their newborn piglets in the absence of materials
which pigs naturally use to build protective beds.
Veal
and gestation crates have already been banned throughout the
European Union. The gestation crate for breeding pigs was
outlawed through a citizen initiative in Florida in 2002.
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