Ariz. ballot campaign strikes at sow housing: Activists seek to dismantle sow stalls in the state; veterinary profession, producers hold steadfast

摘要

TEMPE, ARIZ. - An activist-backed ballot proposition to eliminate sow gestation stalls in Arizona stands to produce the nation's second state to ban the controversial housing system. Championed by Arizonans for Humane Farms, the measure closely mirrors Florida's 2002 sow stalls ban, also driven by activist ballot. This November, Arizonans likely will vote on an amendment to the state's Humane Treatment of Farm Animals Act to make "cruel and inhumane confinement of a pig during pregnancy or of a calfraised for veal" a class-1 misdemeanor crime. Language in the initiative notes that pregnant pigs and calves "must be able to turn around and lie down, fully extend limbs when tethered, confined in crates, cages or other enclosure."