WASHINGTON—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled against the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation in their challenge to Proposition 12, the strongest farm animal protection law in the world. The Humane Society of the United States led the Proposition 12 campaign, which California voters passed overwhelmingly in 2018 by a 63% margin.
This historic measure built on prior California law to prohibit the cruel caging of egg-laying chickens, mother pigs and calves used for veal. Proposition 12 also bans the sale in California of eggs, pork and veal if they are the product of extreme confinement.
To help defend Proposition 12, the Humane Society of the United States, as well as Animal Equality, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Outlook, Compassion in World Farming USA, Farm Sanctuary and the Humane League, intervened in the lawsuit on the side of the State of California.
“The 9th Circuit’s unanimous decision comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of a separate meat industry challenge to Proposition 12,” said Rebecca Cary, senior staff attorney at the Humane Society of the United States. “It affirms yet again what the meat industry should hear loud and clear by now: that states have the right to pass laws that reject cruel products and protect their citizens’ health and safety.”
This ruling is the latest in a long history of expensive, failed meat industry attempts to strike down popular animal cruelty laws.