Oregon Senate Passes Bill Taking Aim at Practice Considered One of Factory Farming`s Worst Abuses

By a two-to-one margin, lawmakers approve measure prohibiting the use of "cruel crates" to confine breeding pigs.

Sows (female pigs) suffer through rapid cycles of impregnation, giving birth, and nursing, all while intensively confined. According to a March 2005 article in USDA's Agricultural Research, "Confining pregnant sows in stalls is a major well-being issue. It curtails movement and social interaction and fails to provide dirt or hay to satisfy their instincts to use their snouts to root for food." Nevertheless, these cruel crates are still the agricultural norm in U.S. factory farming. Photo: Factory Farming Campaign

(SALEM) - The Oregon State Senate approved a measure today prohibiting what has been called one of the most abusive practices in factory farming: confining breeding pigs in metal gestation crates so small the animals can’t turn around for months on end.

This is a similar practice to veal production, where baby cows are fixed in position and denied mothering to keep the meat soft and valuable.

Senate Bill 694, which was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee and championed by Sen. Ginny Burdick (D-18), in an overwhelming vote today of 20-9. The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization with more than 10 million supporters, praised the Oregon Senate for approving the important measure, at a time when food industry giants like Burger King, Wolfgang Puck, and Smithfield Foods are all taking steps to end this cruel confinement of farm animals.

“Gestation crates are among the most cruel and inhumane confinement systems used in today’s factory farms,” said Kelly Peterson, Oregon state coordinator for The HSUS. “Today, Oregon lawmakers have sent a clear message: the state should be no refuge for abusive agribusiness practices that deny these highly intelligent and social creatures the basic ability to turn around and stretch their limbs.”

Sen. Burdick stated, “Gestation crates are truly cruel and inhumane, and I’m pleased that the Senate has lived up to its responsibility to take the lead on such an important animal cruelty issue.”

What Senate Bill 694 specifically will do, is prohibits confining pigs during pregnancy in a manner that prevents them from lying down, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely.

The Humane Society says gestation crates are two-foot-wide metal cages that confine millions of breeding pigs for nearly their entire lives. The crates are restrictive to the point that the animals can’t turn around for months on end. Advocates say the animals suffer both leg and joint problems along with psychosis from this extreme treatment.

Legislative timeline for Senate Bill 694:

April 26th: 2007—Senate approves SB 694 by a vote of 20-9.

April 12th: 2007—SB 694 passes the Senate Judiciary Committee.

March 2007: Burger King announces that it has started phasing in the use of pork from producers that don’t confine pigs in gestation crates.

March 2007: Wolfgang Puck announces the implementation of a wide-ranging program to improve animal welfare in his supply chain, including not using veal or pork from crated sows.

March 2007: U.S. Congress members Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) introduce H.R. 1726, the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act, which requires animal producers supplying federal programs with meat, dairy, and eggs to comply with a moderate set of animal welfare standards.

February 28th, 2007: The Senate Judiciary Committee introduces SB 694 at the request of Senator Ginny Burdick (D-Portland District 18).

January 2007: Smithfield Foods and Maple Leaf Foods announce that they are phasing out their use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs.

November 2006: In a landslide, Arizona voters pass an HSUS-led initiative banning gestation crates and veal crates in the state (effective 2013).

January 2005: Senator Ginny Burdick introduces a bill to ban the use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs.

November 2002: Florida voters overwhelmingly approve an HSUS-led measure banning gestation crates in the state (effective 2008).