Farm Sanctuary Applauds Landmark Pew Commission Report Advising End to Cruel Confinement of Animals on Factory Farms and Force-Feeding of Birds to Produce Foie Gras

2008-05-01 02:38:10 -

- Farm Sanctuary Tricia Barry, 607-583-2225 ext. 233 tricia@farmsanctuary.org Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization, this week applauded the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production in its recommendations to change the way animals are raised for food in the United States. The report reinforces the efforts of many of Farm Sanctuary's long-standing campaigns, namely its anti-confinement campaign that addresses gestation crates for breeding pigs, veal crates for calves and battery cages for egg-laying hens, as well as the organization's No Foie Gras campaign, which works to end the force-feeding of birds to produce foie gras.

Commissioners cited risks to public health, the environment and concerns about animal welfare in the report, and lauded the current California ballot initiative to end the use of gestation crates, veal crates and battery cages in the state - the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act - backed by Farm Sanctuary and the Humane Society of the United States.

"The release of the Pew Commission report is a landmark event," said Julie Janovsky, director of campaigns for Farm Sanctuary. "At long last there was a great degree of deliberation and independent examination of the systematic confinement, mutilation and force feeding of farm animals, and recognition that policy must be shaped not simply by the production value of the animal, but rather the ethics of how we treat these animals."

Among many findings, the commission concluded that, "Intensive confinement...often so severely restricts movement and natural behaviors, such as the ability to walk or lie on natural materials, having enough floor space to move with some freedom, and rooting for pigs, that it increases the likelihood that the animals suffer severe distress."

In addition to ending the use of confinement systems like gestation crates, battery cages and veal crates, the commissioners also recommended banning the practices of force-feeding birds to produce foie gras, tail docking dairy cattle and forced molting egg laying hens - all practices that Farm Sanctuary has worked to end for more than 20 years. The report also addressed the significant amount of research funded by the agricultural industry and recommended disclosure of funding sources for peer-reviewed published research, as well as including ethics as a "key component of research into the humaneness of a particular practice."

More information on the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act in California can be found at www.humanecalifornia.org. Information on Farm Sanctuary's No Foie Gras campaign can be found at www.nofoiegras.org.

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.

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