Oregon legislators recently passed a new law stipulating
that all eggs sold in the state must come from cage-free
hens by 2024. The legislation will require farm operations with more than
3,000 hens to provide “a cage-free housing system” for the birds and also
mandates that the fowl are afforded “enrichments…including, at minimum, scratch
areas, perches, nest boxes and dust bathing areas.” Violation of the law could
result in significant fines.
The
Humane Society of the United States applauded the measure as a “monumental win
for hens,” adding that “with Oregon’s new law, the entire West Coast region of
the United States now has the strongest laws in the world for egg-laying hens.”
I guess if you’re an egg-laying hen-- or an illegal alien-- the West Coast is
the place to be.
Two
proposed amendments to the bill were narrowly defeated, however, though
proponents vow to revisit them in the near future. One proposed rider would
have mandated that all hens be given two weeks of vacation each year, while the
other would have necessitated providing the hens with unlimited access to cable
television, including premium channels. Both amendments would do away
with the pernicious “pecking order.”
Animal
rights activists touted Oregon’s move and said it paves the way for further
progress in the immediate future. The head of one such group told this reporter
that activists are closely watching California’s legislature to see what
becomes of a bill now being considered that would improve the lives of milk
cows. This bill, they say, would require that all milk sold in the state come
from free-roaming cows in unfenced pastures. It would outlaw machine-based
milking, mandating that only the softest, un-calloused human hands be used to
coax the animal’s teats into giving up the precious dairy product. Moreover,
the bill would stipulate that cows have 24/7 access to the choicest cud, and
that they receive relaxing back and neck massages while Barry White music plays
softly during the period when they are being milked.
The cows would be provided access
to free legal advice if they felt marginalized, underappreciated, discriminated
against, overworked or harassed, sexually or otherwise.
#MeTooMoo.
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