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Victory: California’s Prop 12 Upheld by Supreme Court

Victory: California’s Prop 12 Upheld by Supreme Court

In a major win for farmed animals, the Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 12 in California, which is regarded as one of the strongest farmed animal welfare laws in the nation. 



Prop 12, which was likely too controversial to be introduced into the legislature, passed as a ballot measure instead and was supported by In Defense of Animals in 2018. It banned the intensive confinement of mother pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens and defined space requirements in square footage, in addition to banning sales of eggs, pork products, and veal from out-of-state producers that don’t meet space requirements for their animals. The bill requires a minimum floor space for animals, a standard that many pork producers in the United States do not currently meet.



The exploitative pork industry argued that Prop 12 unrightfully prohibits out-of-state farms from selling their ill-gotten pork products, but the court ruled that producers must comply with the laws of each state they are selling in. The judges also ruled in a 5-4 majority that Prop 12’s benefits are greater than the potential negative effects on the sale of pig flesh products. 

The ruling is significant given that California is the world’s fifth largest economy, and consumes 13% of the nation’s pork, but only produces 1% in-state.



Prop 12 has put a national spotlight on the way pigs and other farmed animals are confined and abused in the systems we humans have developed. The ruling leads the way for other states and consumers across the country to take a stand against the worst cruelties and inherent injustices found in industrial-scale animal agriculture.

However, there is still much to be done on the farmed animal rights and welfare fronts. Animals on almost all farms, even those raised “organically” or “humanely", live in deplorable conditions and are routinely tortured. All are brutally slaughtered and callously exploited because of human greed and laziness. But this law takes us one step closer to a world where other animals do not suffer at the hands of human animals, and In Defense of Animals is committed to working toward that goal.

In the meantime, you can stop farmed animal suffering today by leaving them off of your plate and finding more ways to help at our Farmed Animals campaign.

You can support our work by donating

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