Farm Sanctuary Applauds Colorado for Passing Legislation Phasing out Veal and Gestation...

Farm Sanctuary Applauds Colorado for Passing Legislation Phasing out Veal and Gestation Crates

Colorado Joins Other States and Countries in Banning Two of the
Most Abusive Factory Farm Confinement Systems
DENVER--(Business Wire)--
The movement to end the use of intensive confinement systems for
farm animals is gaining momentum in the U.S. On Wednesday, May 14,
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 201 (S.B. 201) into
state law, making Colorado the second state to ban the use of veal
crates for calves, and the fourth state to ban gestation crates for
breeding pigs. Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal
protection organization, applauds Colorado in joining Florida, Arizona
and Oregon in outlawing gestation crates, and joining Arizona in
outlawing veal crates.

"The Colorado legislature and Governor Ritter are to be commended
for addressing great public concern calling for basic farm animal
welfare in banning these egregiously abusive confinement systems,"
stated Farm Sanctuary Director of Campaigns Julie Janovsky. "The
passage of this modest measure recognizes that animals are not mere
production units and at the very least should be provided with enough
room to move. As Colorado joins the trend of nations who eliminated
intensive confinement of animals, we hope that they will take the next
step and apply this humane policy to end the use of battery cages
which now house 3.6 million egg-laying hens in Colorado."

The European Union will have effectively banned veal crates,
gestation crates, and battery cages by 2012 and California recently
certified an anti-confinement initiative, the Prevention of Farm
Animal Cruelty Act co-sponsored by Farm Sanctuary, for the November
2008 ballot. If passed, veal crates, gestation crates and battery
cages would be phased out in the largest agricultural state in the
U.S.

Gestation crates are among the most restrictive and cruel forms of
intensive confinement widely used in factory farms. The 2-foot-wide
crates are so restrictive that they prevent sows from turning around
or taking more than a step for the duration of each of their four
month pregnancies. Giving birth to two litters per year, these
intelligent creatures live most of their lives in this constricted
manner, and they suffer from extensive leg and joint disorders, as
well as psychological neuroses.

Millions of male calves are born to dairy cows every year and
approximately 698,000 are sold to the veal industry. Most veal calves
are taken away from their mothers immediately after birth and tethered
inside 2-foot-wide wooden crates where they cannot turn around,
stretch their limbs or lie down comfortably. The calves are fed a
liquid, fiber-free and iron-deficient diet that causes anemia and
produces the pale flesh known as "white" veal. This diet causes
chronic diarrhea, which these calves are forced to wallow in under
this extreme confinement until they are slaughtered at about 18 weeks.

Facts:

-- S.B. 201 is set to phase out veal crates in four years and
gestation crates in 10 years.

-- Colorado's factory farms currently confine approximately
150,000 breeding sows in gestation crates.

-- The veal industry does not exist in Colorado, yet the state's
Dairy industry is welcoming out-of-state interest in the
production and marketing of this cruel product.

-- Last year, the American Veal Association recommended the
phasing out of cruel veal crates and Smithfield Foods (the
largest pork producer in the U.S.) has announced a gradual
phase-out of gestation crates.

-- Companies such as Safeway, Burger King, Carl's Jr. and Hardees
and Wolfgang Puck are in the process of phasing out the
purchase of products created through the use of intensive
confinement systems.

-- The Pew Trust recently released a two and a half year study by
the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production which
concluded that intensive confinement systems, such as veal and
gestation crates and battery cages should be phased out, and
that the current industrial farm animal production systems
often pose unacceptable risks to public health, the
environment and the welfare of the animals themselves.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection
organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked
to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry
through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms,
public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and
refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and
Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals,
who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating
visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional
information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling
607-583-2225.

Farm Sanctuary
Tricia Barry, 607-583-2225 ext. 233
tricia@farmsanctuary.org
or
Angela Barker, 607-583-2225 ext. 256
abarker@farmsanctuary.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008