<
https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-grapples-with-animal-welfare-in-a-challenge-to-a-california-law-requiring-pork-to-be-humanely-raised-187893>
"Should Californians be able to require higher welfare standards for farm
animals that are raised in other states if products from those animals are to
be sold in California? The U.S. Supreme Court will confront that question when
it hears oral argument in
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross on Oct. 11,
2022.
Pork producers are challenging a law that California voters adopted in 2018 via
ballot initiative with over 63% approval. It set new conditions for raising
hogs, veal calves and egg-laying chickens, whose meat or eggs are sold in
California. The state represents about 15% of the U.S. pork market.
At most commercial hog farms, pregnant sows are kept in “gestation crates” that
measure 2 feet by 7 feet – enough room for the animals to sit, stand and lie
down, but not enough to turn around. California’s law requires that each sow
must have at least 24 square feet of floor space – nearly double the amount
that most now get. It does not require farmers to raise free-range pigs, just
to provide more square feet when they keep hogs in buildings.
The National Pork Producers Council argues that this requirement imposes heavy
compliance costs on farmers across the U.S., since large hog farms may house
thousands of sows and that it restricts interstate commerce. The Constitution’s
commerce clause delegates authority to regulate interstate commerce to the
federal government. In a series of cases over the past 50 years, the Supreme
Court has made clear that it will strike down any state law that seeks to
control commerce in another state or give preference to in-state commerce.
Farmers and animal welfare advocates understand that if California wins, states
with the most progressive animal welfare policies – primarily West Coast and
Northeast states – will be able to effectively set national standards for the
well-being of many agricultural animals, including chickens, dairy and cattle.
Conceivably, California might also be able to require basic conditions for
human labor, such as minimum wage standards, associated with products sold in
California.
Nine other states have already adopted laws requiring pork producers to phase
out gestation crates. Massachusetts’s law would also apply to retail sales of
pork raised elsewhere, like California’s, but its enforcement is on hold
pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in the California case."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
