There's a proposition being voted on in California this September, Proposition 2. The measure deals with the confinement of farm animals, specifically gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages. There is some controversy... it only goes into effect January 2015, and many people claim it doesn't do enough. But it's being endorsed by the Humane Society and that's good enough for me.
Below is a cute video asking Californians to vote yes on Prop 2, released Friday by the Humane Society.
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Personally, I’m voting against prop 2. I was a big supporter of it when I first heard about it but after some reflection, the problem isn’t that it “doesn’t do enough”; the problem is that it does nothing except make people feel better about eating eggs, veal, etc.
Hi Sat,
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t had a chance to review the link in depth, but I will do that in the next week or three and if it changes my opinion, I will revisit the topic.
I’m rather disappointed that the stamp of approval from Farm Sanctuary and the HSUS may not be sufficient enough for me to decide on a yes vote. I would think those organizations would have animal welfare as their main objective.
I do live in California, and I was very glad that you mentioned this proposition. I’m sorry to say I hadn’t read about it prior to this post and so I found it very helpful. I read the referenced links… and I just wanted to say that personally, I suspect that I will be voting yes, not because I approve of or support the industry (because I don’t!!!) but because I feel that any improvement in animal living conditions is worth a vote. I’m sure the bill doesn’t go far enough or help enough, but passing something towards animal welfare seems better than nothing. I read the linked article and since many bills have equally delayed start-times, that doesn’t have much impact on me although I do agree, the sooner the better. Not passing anything won’t get results faster, though. Further, I can’t help but be skeptical of critics’ casual psychological analysis of the impact this bill would have. For me, this bill is about the animals- not imperfect people or fat cat industry. I also feel that organizations like HSUS have to be realistic and support animal welfare in our current, imperfect society. (Although I’m all for their promoting veganism- sounds good!) The critique of a “happy meat” movement is a good one, but realistically (and unfortunately) the industry exists and will continue to exist for some time so I think it’s important to support animal welfare- even if I’d rather the animals not be part of the whole mess to begin with. Confinement of animals is a huge ethical problem that needs to be addressed. However, I’m glad to read critical treatments of the bill and I will definitely keep reading before I actually cast my vote.
Hope you don’t mind that you inspired me to think aloud about this at your blog. I think there are undoubtedly many different ways of thinking about this proposition- this just happens to be the way I’m thinking about it right now.
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Personally, I’m voting against prop 2. I was a big supporter of it when I first heard about it but after some reflection, the problem isn’t that it “doesn’t do enough”; the problem is that it does nothing except make people feel better about eating eggs, veal, etc.
You might want to check out the following blog post for a brief overview of what is wrong with prop 2: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?p=165
Hi Sat,
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t had a chance to review the link in depth, but I will do that in the next week or three and if it changes my opinion, I will revisit the topic.
I’m rather disappointed that the stamp of approval from Farm Sanctuary and the HSUS may not be sufficient enough for me to decide on a yes vote. I would think those organizations would have animal welfare as their main objective.
I do live in California, and I was very glad that you mentioned this proposition. I’m sorry to say I hadn’t read about it prior to this post and so I found it very helpful. I read the referenced links… and I just wanted to say that personally, I suspect that I will be voting yes, not because I approve of or support the industry (because I don’t!!!) but because I feel that any improvement in animal living conditions is worth a vote. I’m sure the bill doesn’t go far enough or help enough, but passing something towards animal welfare seems better than nothing. I read the linked article and since many bills have equally delayed start-times, that doesn’t have much impact on me although I do agree, the sooner the better. Not passing anything won’t get results faster, though. Further, I can’t help but be skeptical of critics’ casual psychological analysis of the impact this bill would have. For me, this bill is about the animals- not imperfect people or fat cat industry. I also feel that organizations like HSUS have to be realistic and support animal welfare in our current, imperfect society. (Although I’m all for their promoting veganism- sounds good!) The critique of a “happy meat” movement is a good one, but realistically (and unfortunately) the industry exists and will continue to exist for some time so I think it’s important to support animal welfare- even if I’d rather the animals not be part of the whole mess to begin with. Confinement of animals is a huge ethical problem that needs to be addressed. However, I’m glad to read critical treatments of the bill and I will definitely keep reading before I actually cast my vote.
Hope you don’t mind that you inspired me to think aloud about this at your blog. I think there are undoubtedly many different ways of thinking about this proposition- this just happens to be the way I’m thinking about it right now.
Best wishes,
Sea