Hello everyone. Today we’re going to talk about a recent decision by the Supreme Court, and what it means.
The Supreme Court recently upheld a law known as Prop 12, in a 5-4 decision. Prop 12 is a law in California which requires pigs, hens, and calves to be given a few extra feet of space and sets some minimal animal welfare standards. Its goal is to make meat ‘cage free.’ Meat which doesn’t reach these requirements not only can’t be sold in California, it can’t be imported from out of state.
Members of the meat industry tried to get the law overturned claiming it was unconstitutional. For example, AFBF President Zippy Duval said: “At the heart of this argument is whether one state can set the rules for the entire country.”
What’s funny about this is that while opponents have made arguments about ‘states rights’ and ‘government overreach’ the meat industry wants to prevent California from deciding its own regulations. The Supreme Court ruled against the plaintiff. Basically, just because a state’s laws have effects on out of state traders, it doesn’t provide them the right to overturn it.
So the question is, does this law matter and is it helpful for animal rights?
Typically on 98 percent of farms, animals are crammed into spaces so small they can’t move or stretch their limbs. They sleep in their own feces, and constantly suffer from boredom. The industry standard for pigs is 18-20 feet of space, and prop 12 requires 24 feet. It basically says that animals have to be able to turn around without touching their enclosure walls.
Battery cages, and stalls so small one can’t move are the norm everywhere. In addition when sows are forcibly bred, farms use gestation crates. Florida and Arizona have banned these due to their cruelty. That being said, even when farms are ‘cage free,’ animals are still crammed into spaces that are too small to move, together with thousands of other animals.
For example, an investigation uncovered the conditions of a prop 12 compliant egg farm in California. The conditions were filthy and the animals were brushing up against each other. They couldn’t stretch their wings. Even without a cage, there was only a requirement for one square foot of space for each animal.
Many animal welfare laws are vague, paltry, and go unenforced. Due to a lack of exposure, not only are people unaware of just how barbaric the inside of farms are, but how horrible conditions continue to be even after regulations are passed. Even the most small-scale, traditional farms can inflict forms of suffering we don’t think about. Farms in America that try to advertise their humane conditions don’t even come close to being that reformed.
Keep in mind, millions of dollars, and thousands of hours of activist time were used to pass Prop 12. If we put that much effort into passing a law, it needs to involve sweeping reforms. These still wouldn’t be perfect, but would at least be worth the time and resources invested. I’ll talk more about better legislation we should pass in a different post.
There are two types of compromises. The first is strategic. For example, activists were unable to make any progress on animal vivisection for over a hundred years. The population was afraid to lay a finger on animal experiments. They thought anyone who suggested it was simply a fanatic. It wasn’t until activists started putting in incremental changes that we were able to make the progress we have today. This type of compromise is useful when you have to mix your ideas with something else to combat bad policies other people push. You should only use it as a negotiation tactic for when you’ve run out of options.
The second type of compromise requires you to make trades in exchange for things that aren’t worth it.
Compromise is a bit of a dirty word. One reason is because of fears of moral impurity. The other is because words like ‘unity’ and ‘compromise’ are used as political weapons. They’re often code for telling people to ‘slow down’ or to make changes in a way that isn’t controversial. However, if you wait for something to not be controversial, it’s no longer an issue. People wonder whether change comes from evolution or revolution, but they’re actually both parts of the same thing.
The process required to turn animals into meat, or turn their bodily functions into commodities is inherently exploitative. Especially in a world with eight billion people where we over breed animals to keep up with consumer demand. Strangely enough, if everyone quit buying meat, there would be a risk of farm animals going extinct, not overpopulating, but that’s a whole other issue.
Even if you don’t think the killing of the less intelligent matters, the less intelligent still feel pain. We overlook certain practices because of our biases. However, if you want to judge whether something is truly humane, you have to think, “Would I be okay with doing this to a two year old human?” If not, then it involves some form of cruelty.
The fact that meat companies were willing to go to this much trouble over adding four extra feet of space for their animals shows that there is no such thing as ‘humane meat.’
AFBF President Zippy Duval can be quoted saying the following. “The arbitrary standards take away flexibility to ensure hogs are raised in a safe environment. Prop 12 will… lead to higher pork prices at the grocery store for America’s families.”
What this means is that he would rather pass the price down to the consumer instead of making a little bit less extra profit. He’s even audacious enough to say that he’s watching out for the safety of the animals.
However, cramming thousands of animals together and forcing them to sleep in their feces until it turns into ammonia gas isn’t watching out for their safety. Not only is it dangerous for the animals, by extension it’s dangerous for the public health. The animals get diseases, and then we allow unregulated use of antibiotics because it’s quicker than properly diagnosing what type of infection each animal has.
All that being said, none of this means we should turn apathetic and do nothing. This is an emergency. It’s an emergency for us, and for the animals in severe pain who need emergency relief. For example, it’s common practice to castrate an animal by tying their scrotum with a rubber band and waiting several weeks for the testicles to die and fall off. We brand, carve, cut, and castrate animals with no painkillers.
We need sweeping reforms. Minimal reforms, like a few extra feet of cage space won’t do. Not only will they kill momentum, people who are less informed will say, “Oh, I guess we did something,” and then go do something else. Even worse, it’ll trick well intentioned people into thinking they are buying ‘humane meat’ when there’s no such thing. There are much better measures we can take, and with enough effort the things we see today can become relics of the past.