Pertains to confinement of animals for food producing purposes; prohibits any person to tether or confine any pig during pregnancy, calf raised for veal, or egg-laying hen who is kept on a farm for all or the majority of any day in a manner that prevents such animal from lying down, standing up and fully extending its limbs and turning around freely; establishes that commission of such crime shall constitute a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year and/or fine not to exceed $1,000.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A668
SPONSOR: Rosenthal (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
confinement of animals for food producing purposes
PURPOSE:
This bill phases out pig gestation crates, veal crates and hen battery
cages.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the agriculture and markets law by, adding a new
section 353-e that defines the terms employed for the purposes of this
bill.
Subdivision two would make it unlawful for any person to confine any
covered animal in a manner that prevents them from lying down, standing
up and fully extending its limbs and turning around freely.
Subdivision three lists exemptions to the rules set forth in the previ-
ous subdivision.
Subdivision four would make any violation of the provisions of this
section a Class A misdemeanor.
Subdivision five provides that nothing contained in this section shall
conflict with humane local laws.
Subdivision six stipulates that nothing in this section shall reduce the
protection afforded to animals or the enforcement of such protection.
Subdivision five sets out the enforcement mechanism for this section.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Harsh confinement within confinement crates and cages deprives calves,
pigs and chickens of the ability to engage in natural behavior. Animals
confined in such circumstances experience extensive and significant
physical and psychological trauma.
Nationwide, about one million calves raised for veal and six million
breeding sows (female pigs) suffer nearly their entire lives inside tiny
crates so small the animals cannot turn around. According the Humane
Society of the United States, veal factory farmers separate calves from
their mothers within the first few days of birth and cram them into
individual crates or stalls, tethered by their necks. Inside these
enclosures, the calves can barely move.
Breeding sows suffer under similar circumstances. Gestation crates board
pregnant pigs for nearly their entire four-month pregnancy. These tiny
metal crates are not even large enough for the pig to move or perform
natural behaviors such as cleaning themselves or simply turning around.
Veal and pork producers nationally are already in the process of phasing
out veal and gestation crates. All veal producers have set a deadline of
2017 for themselves to phase out veal crates. In January 2007, Smith-
field, the nation's largest pork producers, announced that they would
phase out the confinement of pigs over the next decade. Cargill, the
nation's 8th biggest pork producers, has also stated that they are work-
ing on phasing out confinement. The world's largest food-service provid-
er, Compass group, is phasing out cage shell eggs for all of its 8,000
U.S. accounts. This announcement followed Bon Appetit's decision to
phase out cage eggs for all of its 400 cafes, including major corporate
clients such as Yahoo!, Oracle Corporation, Cisco Systems, Adidas, Best
Buy, and Nordstrom, Cartwells and Gukenheimer, some of the largest
U.S.-owned food service companies, made similar decisions.
Other entities such as Ben and Jerry's, AOL, Google, Chicago's Swedish
Covenant Hospital and Omni Hotels will not serve battery cage eggs in
the food that they provide to workers, clients and guests. More than 350
schools have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly decrease their use
of eggs from caged hens.
These self-imposed pledges are an excellent first step, but the indus-
try's best practices should be embraced across the board. American
consumers are increasingly demanding the humane treatment of all
animals, including those raised for food. New York State should rise to
meet this demand by bringing the practices of its agricultural industry
into the modern era.
This ban is not without precedent. In 2002, Florida voters banned
gestation crates in a 55-45% vote. In 2006, Arizona voters banned both
gestation crates and veal crates in a 62-38% vote. In 2007, the Oregon
legislature banned gestation crates and in 2008, the Colorado legisla-
ture banned both gestation crates and veal crates. California voters
recently passed Proposition 2 which banned gestation crates, veal crates
and battery cages by a 63.5-36.5% vote. The entire European Union has
also banned both veal crates and gestation crates, effective 2007 and
2013, respectively.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.341 - Referred to Agriculture; S.7611- Referred to Agricul-
ture
2021-22: A.475 - Referred to Agriculture; S.6144 - Referred to Agricul-
ture
2019-20: A.752 - Referred to Agriculture; S.657 - Referred to Agricul-
ture
2017-18: A.1341 - Referred to Agriculture; S.4718 - Referred to Agricul-
ture
2015-16: A.372-A - Referred to Agriculture; S.3999 - Referred to Agri-
culture
2013-14: A.424 - Referred to Agriculture
2011-12: A.1928 - Referred to Agriculture
2009-10: A.8163 - Referred to Agriculture
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect twenty-four months after it shall have
become a law.
