OLYMPIA, Wa.— Washingtonians for Humane Farms submitted language to the Secretary of State to place a statewide measure on November’s ballot. The coalition of animal welfare, family farming, food safety, and environmental groups proposed a measure that will prevent animal cruelty, preserve the environment, and protect consumers and small farmers.
The measure would require that egg-laying hens have enough room to turn around and extend their wings, and that eggs sold in the state are produced in compliance with this humane standard. It would prevent one of the worst factory farm abuses: the extreme confinement of egg-laying hens in small cages, where the animals can barely move for their entire lives. If approved by voters, the measure would take effect in 2018, giving producers more than six years to transition to more humane housing systems.
About six million egg-laying hens in Washington spend their entire lives inside cages, where each hen has less space than a sheet of paper. Factory farms that cram egg-laying hens into tiny cages are not only cruel but they threaten food safety. All thirteen scientific studies published in the last five years comparing Salmonella contamination between caged and cage-free operations found that those confining hens in cages had higher rates of Salmonella. Across the country, a major movement away from cages has taken root. Michigan and California have passed laws to phase out the use of cages to confine hens, and similar legislation is pending in other states. California also passed a law requiring that all whole eggs sold statewide be cage-free by 2015.
“Like all animals, farm animals have feelings and they deserve to be protected from cruelty,” stated Gene Baur, President and Co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. “Treating egg-laying hens like inanimate tools of production and packing them in cages where they can’t even flap their wings is inhumane and it should be illegal.”
And major food manufacturers and retailers — including Kraft, Sara Lee, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Unilever, Burger King, Wendy’s, Denny’s, Subway, Sonic, Quiznos, Red Robin, Hardee’s, and Carl’s Jr. — have started to use cage-free eggs.
