Join rally to protect farm animals
By: Peter Singer
Farm animals in the United States lack the legal protection that has recently been given to them in many parts of Europe. Confining veal calves and sows, for months at a time, in crates too narrow for them to turn around, and too small for them to walk a single step, is still permitted in New Jersey and across the United States, although such methods have long been banned in Britain, and are now being phased out across the entire European Union. Hens can still be starved for up to two weeks in New Jersey, in a procedure used by egg producers to force them to go into molt. This, too, is not allowed in Europe.
But New Jersey did pass legislation, in 1996, requiring the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to produce "standards for the humane raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing, and sale of domestic livestock." The problem is that the standards have never been produced. Unless New Jersey citizens can prod their legislators to take action, this unique legislation will become completely meaningless.
Now, concerned citizens of New Jersey, joined by celebrities and animal rights leaders, are holding a forum and rally in Trenton urging the state Department of Agriculture to do what the law requires it to do, and produce genuinely humane standards for farm animals. Ironically, in this area fast-food giants like McDonald’s and Burger King are actually ahead of the states in setting standards for farm animals. But that still leaves the majority of New Jersey producers able to confine and exploit animals in ways that many other countries no longer allow.
The Forum is on Sunday, April 7, at the Lafayette Yard Marriott, 1 West Lafayette St., in downtown Trenton. Hosted by Grant Aleksander, the forum features an array of speakers throughout the day, including Gene and Lorri Bauston, founders of Farm Sanctuary, and Howard Lyman, author of "Mad Cowboy." Acclaimed artist and author Sue Coe will also be present, and will sign books and prints.
On Monday, April 8, Mary Tyler Moore will lead other animal advocates in a Rally Against Factory Farming, beginning at 10 a.m. at the New Jersey State Capitol, at 125 West State Street, Trenton. After the rally, New Jersey citizens are encouraged to visit the offices of their state legislators to urge them to ensure that all farm animals have the freedom to turn around, stretch their limbs and walk a few steps.
Although in the past the animal rights movement has often focused on animals used in research, or on issues like deer shooting, by far the largest amount of animal suffering inflicted on animals occurs in factory farms. Across America, hidden away from the eyes of the public, billions of animals are confined in conditions so bad that anyone who kept a dog like that would be fined. But farm animals are generally not covered by the legislation that protects animals like dogs and cats. It is time for this to change.
More information is available at www.njfarms.org.
Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University.