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Arizona Humane Groups Launch Statewide Ballot Campaign to Halt the Suffering of Farm Animals on Factory Farms

PHOENIX - Arizonans for Humane Farms, a coalition of animal welfare organizations, today filed a ballot measure with the Secretary of State that would provide more humane treatment for farm animals in Arizona. The measure, which the group aims to certify for the November 2006 election, would prohibit the cruel confinement of pigs during pregnancy and young veal calves in small crates on factory farms. It would require that the animals have enough room to turn around, lie down, and extend their limbs.

The coalition-which includes the Arizona Humane Society, Animal Defense League of Arizona, AzSPCA (a division of the Arizona Animal Welfare League), ASPCA, Farm Sanctuary, and The Humane Society of the United States-expects hundreds of volunteers to begin gathering signatures on petitions this fall. They need at least 122,612 valid signatures of registered Arizona voters to qualify for the November 2006 ballot, and the campaign is aiming to collect more than 200,000 signatures.

"Arizona has a proud farming tradition, and most farmers treat their animals humanely," said Cheryl Naumann, chair of Arizonans for Humane Farms and president and CEO of the Arizona Humane Society. "We need to protect our state from factory farms that confine animals in crates so small that they cannot even turn around or extend their limbs."

There are an estimated 16,000 breeding pigs in Arizona. When kept in two-foot-wide metal "gestation crates" during their pregnancies, these sows cannot turn around or fully extend their limbs. A sow has a four-month pregnancy and typically gives birth to five or six litters over four years on factory farms. She endures rigorous cycles of pregnancy, all while confined so intensively she can barely move. Arizona currently 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 crates for the duration of their short but miserable lives.

"Because they are crammed in 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 can't engage in normal behaviors," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, a group with more than nine million constituents including 164,119 who live in Arizona. "Even those animals raised for food deserve to be treated decently and humanely during their lives."

Large factory farms can set up nearly overnight and have devastating impacts. The Circle Four Farms, for example, owned by Smithfield Foods, came to southwestern Utah in 1995, and now has 500,000 sows in production and ships one million hogs to market annually. The gargantuan hog farm has ambitions to become the nation's largest by soon producing 2.5 million hogs a year, and has raised concerns locally about its detrimental impacts to the environment, animal welfare, and rural communities.

"In addition to protecting animal welfare, this measure would protect family farms and Arizona's rural way of life," added Stephanie Nichols-Young, president of the Animal Defense League of Arizona. "This law will enable small family farmers to compete with the factory farms and preserve Arizona's tradition of humane farming, a clean environment, sound public health, and safe foods."

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 and sustainable 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.

"Without this measure, Arizona's families could be at increased risk for disease," said Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), president of Farm Sanctuary. "Animals kept in close confinement are more likely to be infected with harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli. In turn, these factory farms are more prone to ground water contamination that can prove devastating to water supplies, presenting an even broader risk to human health in Arizona."

Both veal and gestation crates have been banned throughout the European Union. The gestation crate for breeding pigs was outlawed through a citizen initiative in Florida in 2002.

For more information, contact Arizonans for Humane Farms at (480) 449-7644 or www.yesforhumanefarms.org.

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., 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. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.