Connecticut bill banning gestation crates fails
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2013 – A Connecticut bill that
would have banned the use of gestation crates for sows failed yesterday in the
state’s House of Representatives. Connecticut’s lawmakers’ decision came
despite an organized push from animal rights groups, including the Humane
Society of the United States (HSUS).
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauded the
defeat, arguing the bill would have “prevented farmers from caring for their
animals in a way approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association.”
The legislation “was a solution in search of a problem,”
said NPPC President-elect Dr. Howard Hill in a press release.
But HSUS says it is determined to reintroduce similar
legislation in Connecticut next year.
Despite “being popular, [the bill] simply ran out of time,” Matt
Dominguez, an HSUS spokesman, told Agri-Pulse.
HSUS polling
of 625 registered Connecticut voters in May found 91 percent in favor of
banning gestation crates.
Even if the bill had passed, it's doubtful whether it would have
made much of a practical difference to the pork industry – according to NPPC, Connecticut
was 43rd in pork inventory in 2007. But the state would have joined Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island
to become the tenth with anti-gestation crate legislation on the books.
Now, the gestation crate battle will move onto three other
northeastern states: New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. A New Jersey bill
to ban their use has already moved passed the legislature and is waiting for Governor
Chris Christie’s signature. An NPPC spokesman says the organization “continues
to provide information to his office.”
#30
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