Baker signs amended Mass. law that clads farm animals in new protections, ensures egg sales in state - Wicked Local
WHAT: A new state law impacting egg-laying hens will take effect Jan 1, but a portion of the animal welfare law voters supported in 2016 regarding breeding pigs and veal calves has been pushed out to August.
The state law - accompanied by regulations that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy authored and filed in October - ensures humane treatment of the three, singled-out animals. It was amended Dec. 19 in order to stave off a shortage of eggs and pork products, and signed into law on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
In the 2016 November election, 78% of Massachusetts voters who cast ballots approved Question 3, establishing the new captivity and animal welfare standards. At the time, it was the strongest law for farm animals in U.S. history.
Under the original language, egg-laying hens would be provided 1.5 square feet of floor space. Meanwhile, farmers would be required to supply veal calves and breeding pigs enough room to lay down, fully extend their limbs, stand up and turn around freely. Sales of pork, veal, eggs produced by hens in smaller spaces than the law requires -- regardless of whether they are in Massachusetts or another state -- would be outlawed in the Bay State.
Industry leaders warned that production practices around the country have shifted since passage of the voter law, and that the vast majority of eggs would no longer be valid for sale in Massachusetts without action to change the law.
In response, a compromise was crafted tallows "multi-tiered aviaries, partially-slatted cage-free housing systems or any other cage-free housing system that provides hens with unfettered access to vertical space" to provide one square foot of floor space per hen. Industry experts say that amount of space with aviary systems is now the norm rather than the 1.5 square feet of floor space per hen required in the voter-approved law.
The compromise delays the start date on the ban on pork products from cruelly-confined animals to Aug. 15.
State House News Service reported Dec. 20 that some animal rights groups that worked on the 2016 ballot question campaign endorsed the changes, while others condemned the legislation and contended that it disregarded the will of voters. "Under the bill, hens were to receive the smallest amount of relief from abject cruelty, but now even that pittance is to be snatched away by this deeply cruel industry," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman, who called for Baker to veto the bill, said in a statement Wednesday.
WHY: The purpose behind the state law: "Prevent animal cruelty by phasing out extreme methods of farm animal confinement, which also threaten the health and safety of Massachusetts consumers, increase the risk of food-borne illness and have negative fiscal impacts on the commonwealth of Massachusetts"
WHEN: Jan. 1, 2022
WHO: This law applies to Massachusetts farmers and business owners
WHERE: The commonwealth of Massachusetts
This articles contains writing and reporting from The Associated Press and the State House News Services
source: https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/cambridge-chronicle-tab/2021/12/22/mass-law-effective-jan-1-clads-farm-animals-new-protections/6467660001/
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