Proposition 2 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 4, 2008. It passed with 63% of the vote in favor and 37% against, enacting the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act and submitting it to the Secretary of State. The initiative's name (as with others such as Proposition 8) was amended to be officially known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals initiative. The official title of the statute enacted by the proposition is the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.
The proposition adds a chapter to Division 20 of the California Health and Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure addresses three types of confinement: veal crates, battery cages, and sow gestation crates.
Having been passed by the voters on November 4, 2008, the key portion of the statute became operative on January 1, 2015. Farming operations had until that date to implement the new space requirements for their animals, and the statute now prohibits animals in California from being confined in a proscribed manner.
Few veal and pig factory farm operations exist in California, so Proposition 2 mostly affects farmers who raise California's 15 million egg-laying hens.
In 2010 the California legislature passed AB 1437, which required shell eggs sold in the state to meet the same requirements. Both Proposition 2 and AB 1437 went into effect in 2015. In 2018, a new ballot measure, Proposition 12, closed loopholes in these laws by requiring the same standards for all eggs and pork sold in the state, regardless of the form in which it was sold (i.e. both shell eggs and liquid eggs), and the state in which it was produced. Proposition 12 was implemented on January 1, 2022, but was temporarily blocked by a judge following legal challenges brought by representatives of the pork industry. In 2023, in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Proposition 12.
Ballot measure summary
The California Secretary of State's summary from the Official Voter Information Guide of Proposition 2 is as follows:
Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely. Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes. Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.
Summary of Legislative Analyst's Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact:
Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually. Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue.
Similar laws
Implemented laws Similar laws have been enacted in other parts of the United States and Europe. On November 5, 2002, Florida voters passed Amendment 10, an amendment to the Florida Constitution banning the confinement of pregnant pigs in gestation crates. The Amendment passed by a margin of 55% for and 45% against. On November 7, 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 204 with 62% support. The measure prohibits the confinement of calves in veal crates and breeding sows in gestation crates. On June 28, 2007, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a measure into law prohibiting the confinement of pigs in gestation crates (SB 694, 74th Leg. Assembly, Regular Session). On May 14, 2008, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed into law a bill, SB 201, that phases out gestation crates and veal crates. Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Austria have all banned battery cages for egg-laying hens. The entire European Union has phased out battery cages as of 2012.
Failed attempts In addition, there have been other attempts to pass similar legislation, which were unsuccessful.
The Humane Society and other animal protection advocates have been working with the California legislature over the last twenty years to achieve the passage of laws to prohibit the cruel treatment of farm animals. They say that the bills for animal protection that they supported have been repeatedly killed in committees where agribusiness has great power.
On January 14, 2004, the bill AB-732 died in the California Assembly's Agriculture Committee. The primary author of AB-732 was Loni Hancock of the 14th District. The bill would have banned gestation and veal crates, eventually being amended to include only veal crates. On May 9, 2007, the bill AB-594 was withdrawn from the California's State Assembly. The bill had been effectively killed in the Assembly Agriculture Committee, by the maneuver of gutting the contents of the bill and replacing them with language concerning tobacco cessation coverage under Medi-Cal. The primary author of AB-594 was Mervyn Dymally of the 52nd District. AB-594 was very similar to the current language of Proposition 2. In January 2008, Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek submitted bill LB 1148 to ban the use of gestation crates for pig farmers. It was withdrawn within 5 days amidst controversy, and a kill motion was filed by State Senator Phil Erdman.
Health and food safety Animals under stress, including the stress of intensive confinement, have compromised immune systems, and thus higher levels of pathogens such as Salmonella in their intestines.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. The reason for this is that Salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed." Supporters of Proposition 2 claim that giving egg-hens more space can prevent this type of outbreak.
Contrarily, previous research suggests that eggs from cage-farmed hens have superior structural integrity in their shells, allowing for greater resistance to penetration by the Salmonella Enteritidis pathogen and decreasing the risk of egg contamination.Dawson, RC et al. Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation. October 2001. Food Safety Risk Management in Different Egg Production Systems. On the other hand, the infection of free-range hens in the California study was caused via the "fecal-oral route through contamination of the feed through feces" from rodents that had easy access to these hens. In addition to being more vulnerable to exposure from rodents, free-range hens did not have the same level of manure management as those hens kept in battery cages. This is because the cage-farmed hens had a manure belt that ran under their enclosures and transported the feces to collection receptacles, common to battery cage systems in California. On the other hand, according to a report by the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation, the total number of bacteria on free-range eggs is 15 times greater than that found on eggs from cage-farmed hens. The Rural Industries report also postulates that the very construction of the indoor housing systems precludes the possibility of poultry and rodents existing closely, thereby potentially decreasing the possibility of cross-infection.
Supporters of Proposition 2 say that increased density of birds in battery cages leads to increased incidence of Salmonella in eggs. They also say that housing battery cages are very difficult to keep clean and are often infested by large numbers of flies and rats.
However, opponents of Prop 2 say that modern battery cages effectively separate "feces and other fluids" from eggs, and that Prop 2 would "effectively ban modern housing". The opponents go on to say that "there has not been a reported case of salmonella linked to California eggs in nearly a decade" - but noting that people get salmonella from eggs that are produced outside of California every year . Their claim about salmonella cases linked to California eggs is supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An article entitled "The pros and cons of cages" published in the World's Poultry Science Journal in 2001 concludes that cages result in increased hygiene and lower incidence of disease related to feces, but can result in higher rates of metabolic disorders.
An undercover investigation of Norco Ranch (a Southern California egg ranch) was completed in August and September 2008. That investigation discovered badly decomposed chicken carcasses in the same cages with hens which were still laying eggs for human consumption. The organization that performed the undercover investigation, Mercy for Animals, released the undercover video to the public whereupon the video and the investigation received wide coverage in the news media. Proponents of Prop 2 imply that close confinement was a major factor in these bird's deaths. However, Prop 2 opponents assert that Norco Ranch was in violation of many California laws already in place.
A 2004 study of California egg farms in the journal Avian Diseases finds comparatively low Salmonella prevalence in indoor housing systems, commonly used in California, as compared to cage-free and free-range housing systems. The researchers state that this low Salmonella prevalence in California egg farms reflects the "distinct geographic, climatic, production and management characteristics" of the state's egg farms. 98 percent of egg farms adhere to the California Egg Quality Assurance Plan, which is a pathogen reduction program for Salmonella in California. The study states, "The highest prevalence [was] in the free-range birds kept on the dirt floors." The California study notes that "feral cats, rodents, skunks, opossums, wild birds, and other wildlife" were seen near the free-range hens' feeding areas, and that rodents "were considered to be the biological vectors and amplifiers" of salmonella on the egg farm in the study. Studies by researchers at the Department of Bacterial Diseases of Veterinary Laboratories Agency-Weybridge in Addlestone, Surrey, UK and by researchers at veterinary and public health institutions in Norway and Denmark support the conclusion that wild animals are a significant and dangerous vector for salmonella.
Supporters of Prop 2 note that furnished cages for egg-laying hens have already been developed in Europe, which allow birds to move freely and display natural behaviors. The waste material in these systems is far less concentrated than with battery cages, and the animals are healthier and calmer with a stronger natural immunity to disease.
Opponents of Prop 2 note that a process called "traceback" is conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and helps to maintain a safe food supply. The FDA's guidance to its staff for conducting tracebacks has sections entitled "Farm Investigations" and "Egg Processor/Packer Investigations," which contain detailed protocols explaining who goes on the farm, how the investigation is carried out, biosecurity procedures and other important steps to ensure that should an outbreak from eggs occur, the traceback would successfully reveal the original source. These opponents to Prop 2 say that California already has adequate and exemplary disease control techniques.
Economic effects