Animal Rights Groups: Unanimous Decision of New Jersey Supreme Court Results in Precedent-Setting Victory for Farm Animals
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2008
11:32 AM
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CONTACT: Animal Rights Groups
Tricia Barry, Farm Sanctuary, 607-583-2225 ext. 233,
tricia@farmsanctuary.org
Katherine Meyer, 202-588-5206,
kmeyer@meyerglitz.com
Erin Williams, The HSUS, 301-721-6446,
ewilliams@humanesociety.org
Matt Stanton, NJSPCA, 973-699-3115,
mstanton@mbi-gs.com
Anita Edson, ASPCA, 212-876-7700 ext. 4566,
anitae@aspca.org |
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Unanimous Decision of New Jersey Supreme Court Results
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Precedent-Setting Victory for Farm Animals
"The Court therefore strikes as invalid the definition of 'routine
husbandry practices'"
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TRENTON - July 30 - In a unanimous landmark decision, the New
Jersey Supreme Court today struck down the New Jersey Department of
Agriculture's (NJDA) regulations exempting all routine husbandry
practices as "humane" and ordered the agency to readdress many of the
state-mandated standards for the treatment of farm animals. A broad
coalition of humane organizations, farmers, veterinarians, and
environmental and consumer groups, led by Farm Sanctuary and represented
by the public interest law firms Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal,
Washington, D.C., and Egert & Trakinski, Hackensack, N.J., brought the
case to the state's Supreme Court. In this monumental case, the Court
ruled that factory farming practices cannot be considered humane simply
because they are widely used, setting a legal precedent for further
actions to end the most egregious abuses on factory farms throughout the
U.S. The Court also rejected the practice of tail-docking cattle, and
the manner in which the NJDA had provided for farm animals to be
mutilated without anesthesia.
"This is a major victory for farm animals in New Jersey, and will pave
the way for better protections of farm animals nationwide," said Gene
Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. "Setting a legal
precedent in a unanimous vote that clarifies that commonly used
practices cannot be considered humane simply because they are widely
used will build on our momentum in challenging the cruel status quo on
factory farms."
Many states have an exemption to their cruelty code for "routine" or
"commonly accepted" practices which leaves animals confined in factory
farms unprotected from abuse. However, in 1996, the New Jersey
Legislature directed the NJDA to develop appropriate "standards for the
humane raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing, and sale of
domestic livestock." Eight years later, on June 7, 2004, the agency
finalized regulations that specifically authorized many cruel farming
practices and essentially gave blanket protection to all common
agriculture practices.
In 2004, a coalition filed suit alleging that the NJDA failed to
establish standards of treatment of farm animals that are "humane" - as
required by the New Jersey Legislature in 1996 - and instead sanctioned
numerous inhumane practices, including all routine farming practices,
used to raise animals for meat, eggs and milk. This coalition included
Farm Sanctuary, The Humane Society of the United States, The New Jersey
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Animal
Welfare Advocacy, Save Our Resources Today, Center for Food Safety, and
the Organic Consumers Association, among others.
In addition to striking down the agency's sweeping exemption for
"routine husbandry practices," the Court further held that tail docking
could not be considered humane, and the manner in which mutilations
without anesthesia including castration, de-beaking and de-toeing could
not be considered humane without some specific requirements to prevent
pain and suffering. The Court made clear that the decision to permit
these practices as long as they are done by a "knowledgeable person" and
in a way to "minimize pain" could not "pass muster."
According to Katherine Meyer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, "Having
the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously recognize that the mutilation
practices commonly used in the industry - cutting off the beaks and toes
of live animals without anesthesia - is painful to these animals is an
important milestone in educating the public at large about these
practices and the need for reform."
"This decision will protect thousands of animals in New Jersey, and also
calls into question some of the worst factory farm abuses practiced
throughout the country," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal
protection litigation for The Humane Society of the United States. "All
animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food."
Unfortunately, the Court failed to take the opportunity to strike down
regulations that allow the confinement of breeding pigs in gestation
crates and calves in veal crates, as well as the transport of sick and
downed cattle. Although the Court noted that these practices are
controversial and that downed animals "suffer greatly," it found the
record on appeal insufficient to warrant striking the regulations at
this time. The decision comes amid a massive momentum nationwide to
phase out these cruel systems and recent highly publicized
investigations of downed cattle that resulted in animal cruelty
convictions. The plaintiffs will push the agency vigorously to phase out
these cruel and inhumane practices when the regulations are revised.
In April 2008 the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production
released the results of a two and a half year study that supports a
phase out of common factory farming practices such as the use of
gestation crates, farrowing crates, tethering, forced feeding, tail
docking, and body-altering procedures that cause pain. The European
Union outlaws many of these practices, or is in the process of phasing
them out. Florida and Oregon have outlawed gestation crates, and Arizona
and Colorado have outlawed both gestation and veal crates. An
anti-confinement initiative on California's November 2008 ballot -
Proposition 2 - if passed, would outlaw gestation crates for breeding
pigs, veal crates for calves and battery cages for egg-laying hens in
the nation's largest agricultural state.
More information about the New Jersey lawsuit can be found at
www.njfarms.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 http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal
protection organization - backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of
every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for
the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on
programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty - On the web at
humanesociety.org.
The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(NJSPCA) is the law enforcement agency that is charged with enforcing
the animal cruelty statutes in New Jersey. The organization was created
by the NJ Legislature in 1868.
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA (R) (The American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals (R)) was the first humane organization established
in the Americas, and today has more than one million supporters
throughout North America. A 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit corporation, the
ASPCA's mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of
cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides
local and national leadership in animal-assisted therapy, animal
behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane education,
legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York City
headquarters houses a full-service, accredited animal hospital, adoption
center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law Enforcement
department enforces New York's animal cruelty laws and is featured on
the reality television series "Animal Precinct" on Animal Planet. For
more information, please visit www.aspca.org.
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