Ag eyes animal-protection bills

Cow tail docking, hen cages in review

By Courtenay Edelhart
The Bakersfield Californian

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Agribusiness is keeping a close eye on two bills that would expand on a new law designed to protect farm animals from inhumane treatment.

The California Egg-Laying Hen Welfare Act (Assembly Bill 1437) would ban the sale of eggs produced on farms where cages are too small for birds to spread their wings or freely turn around.

The sponsor is Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.

Senate Bill 135, sponsored by Majority Leader Dean Florez, D-Shafter, near Bakersfield, prohibits the practice of tail docking, or removing part of a dairy cow's tail by cutting it or choking off circulation with a tight band until it falls off.

Both bills passed this week in their respective houses and are under review in the other chamber.

The egg bill was meant to address one of the primary objections to the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, or Proposition 2, which voters passed last November.

That law makes it a misdemeanor to confine veal calves, pregnant pigs and egg-laying hens in a manner that doesn't allow them to extend their limbs or turn around without touching another animal or the side of an enclosure.

Farmers have until 2015 to meet the new standard.

Farmers and ranchers vehemently opposed Proposition 2, but they have not taken formal positions on the two new bills.

Tail docking, or amputating a cow's tail for nonmedical reasons, is rare in California. "It simply isn't an issue here," said Michael Marsh, chief executive of Western United Dairymen, a trade group based in Modesto.

Some dairymen say shortening the tail improves cow cleanliness, udder health and milk hygiene by reducing the chance that urine and feces on the tail will contaminate either the udder or the person milking the cow.

The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes the practice, saying it provides no benefit to the cow and may encourage illness because cows use tails to swish away flies.

The state's egg producers are so incensed by Proposition 2 that they've formed a trade association to sort out how to interpret the law and what to do about it.

The Association of California Egg Farmers says it finds no consolation in egg bill backers' claims that it will even the playing field for California farmers whose out-of-state competitors aren't bound by Proposition 2.

"The playing field is completely muddy because we have no idea what Prop. 2 mandates," said spokeswoman Fiona Hutton.

"Does it ban a cage? Are cages allowed? If so, how big does the cage have to be? The law is so vague, nobody knows what they're supposed to be doing," she said.

Farm Sanctuary, a Watkins Glen, N.Y.-based animal rights group that lobbied in favor of Proposition 2, says the law is clear, and there's more than enough time for farmers to come into compliance.

The group supports the two new bills, too.

"We're very happy, and we hope that now the other chambers will move quickly to pass each bill and this cruelty will end," said Farm Sanctuary director of legal campaigns Delci Winders.