A08163 Summary:

BILL NO    A08163 

SAME AS    No same as

SPONSOR    Rosenthal (MS)

COSPNSR    Castro, Paulin, Maisel, McEneny, Kellner, Kavanagh, Millman,
           Robinson, Gottfried, Englebright

MLTSPNSR   Glick, Hevesi, Latimer, Titus

Add S353-e, Ag & Mkts L

Pertains to confinement of animals for food producing purposes; prohibits any
person to tether or confine any pig during pregnancy, calf raised for veal, or
egg-laying hen who is kept on a farm for all or the majority of any day in a
manner that prevents such animal from lying down, standing up and fully
extending it's limbs and turning around freely; establishes that commission of
such crime shall constitute a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment
for a period not to exceed one year and/or fine not to exceed $1,000.

A08163 Actions:

BILL NO    A08163 

05/06/2009 referred to agriculture
01/06/2010 referred to agriculture

A08163 Votes:

A08163 Memo:

BILL NUMBER:A8163

TITLE  OF  BILL:    An  act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in
relation to the confinement of animals for food producing purposes

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill will phase-out pig  gestation
crates, veal crates and hen battery cages by 2015.

SUMMARY  OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:  Section one subdivision one amends the
agriculture and markets law by adding a new section 353-e  that  defines
the  terms employed for the purposes of this bill. Subdivision two would
make it unlawful for any person to  confine  any  covered  animal  in  a
manner that prevents them from lying down, standing up and fully extend-
ing  its  limbs  and  turning  around  freely.  Subdivision  three lists
exemptions to the rules set forth in the previous subdivision.  Subdivi-
sion  four  would make any violation of the provisions of this section a
Class A misdemeanor. Subdivision five provides that nothing contained in
this section shall conflict with  humane  local  laws.  Subdivision  six
stipulates  that  nothing  in  this  section shall reduce the protection
afforded to animals or the enforcement of such  protection.  Subdivision
five sets out the enforcement mechanism for this section.

Section two sets out the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:    Harsh  confinement within confinement crates and cages
deprives calves, pigs and chickens of the ability to engage  in  natural
behavior.  Animals  confined  in such circumstances experience extensive
and significant physical and psychological trauma.

Nationwide, about one million calves raised for  veal  and  six  million
breeding sows (female pigs) suffer nearly their entire lives inside tiny
crates so small the animals can't even turn around. According the Humane
Society  of the United States, veal factory farmers separate calves from
their mothers within the first few days of  birth  and  cram  them  into
individual  crates  or  stalls,  tethered  by  their necks. Inside these
enclosures, the calves can barely move.

Breeding sows suffer under similar circumstances. Gestation crates board
pregnant pigs for nearly their entire four-month pregnancy.  These  tiny
metal  crates  are  not even large enough for the pig to move or perform
natural behaviors such as cleaning themselves or simply turning around.

Veal and pork producers nationally are already in the process of phasing
out veal and gestation crates. All veal producers have set a deadline of
2017 for themselves to phase out veal crates. In  January  2007,  Smith-
field,  the  nation's  largest pork producers, announced that they would
phase out the confinement of pigs over the next decade and Cargill,  the
nation's 8th biggest pork producers, has also stated that they are work-
ing on phasing out confinement.

Battery cages used to confine hens make it impossible for them to spread
their wings or turn around. This severely restricts the hen's ability to

engage  in  basic  natural  activities including stretching their wings,
turning around,  perching  and  dust-bathing.  Cage-free  systems  would
enable  hens  to  lay their eggs in nests, walk, and spread their wings,
all  of which would significantly reduce the suffering, stress and inju-
ries associated with severe crowding in cages.

Bills relating to battery  cage  confinement  have  been  introduced  in
states  as  varied  as  Arizona,  New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington.
Major corporations, retail chains, and tech giants are  already  phasing
out  battery cage cruelty. Burger King, Denny's, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's
are starting to move away from cage eggs, as  are  Whole  Foods  Market,
Trader Joe's, Earth Fare and Jimbo's.

The world's largest food-service provider, Compass group, is phasing out
cage  shell  eggs  for all of its 8,000 U.S. accounts. This announcement
followed Bon Appetit's decision to phase out cage eggs for  all  of  its
400  cafes,  including  major  corporate  clients such as Yahoo!, Oracle
Corporation, Cisco Systems, Adidas, Best Buy, and  Nordstrom.  Cartwells
and  Gukenheimer, some of the largest U.S.-owned food service companies,
made similar decisions.

Other entities such as Ben and Jerry's, AOL, Google,  Chicago's  Swedish
Covenant  Hospital  and  Omni Hotels will not serve battery cage eggs in
the food that they provide to workers, clients and guests. Finally, more
than 350 schools have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly  decrease
their use of eggs from caged hens.

These  self-imposed  pledges are an excellent first step, but the indus-
try's best practices should  be  embraced  across  the  board.  American
consumers  are  increasingly  demanding  the  humane  treatment  of  all
animals, including those raised for food. New York State should rise  to
meet  this demand by bringing the practices of its agricultural industry
into the modern era.

This ban is not  without  precedent.  In  2002,  Florida  voters  banned
gestation  crates  in a 55-45% vote. In 2006, Arizona voters banned both
gestation crates and veal crates in a 62-38% vote. In 2007,  the  Oregon
legislature  banned  gestation crates and in 2008, the Colorado legisla-
ture banned both gestation crates and veal crates.  Finally,  this  past
November,  California voters passed Proposition 2 which banned gestation
crates, veal crates and battery cages by a 63.5-36.5% vote.  The  entire
European  Union  has  also banned both veal crates and gestation crates,
effective 2007 and 2013, respectively.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  New  bill.  However,  this  legislation  was
previously two separate bills: A11340 and A10093A in 2008.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.