Cage-Free in California

On November 4, 2008, Proposition 2 passed by an overwhelming majority, freeing chickens from their cruel, constraining cages and giving all California chickens a little more leg room.  By January 1, 2015, all chicken farms will be required to go cage-free.

The proposition extends to other animals as well, mandating that calves raised for veal and soon-to-be mommy pigs must have the ability to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely.  While this doesn’t necessarily ensure completely humane animal farming practices, at least it’s a start.

To add to the the bill, this past July, Governor Schwarzenegger extended the law to require that all eggs imported into California meet the same standards.  California will officially become the first cage-free state.  With hope, others will soon follow.

Currently, California houses a market that contains about 10% of the nation’s eggs, expected to nearly double the current cage-free egg market of which equals approximately 6% of the national market.  It’s predicted that hundreds of millions of eggs will now come from cage-free eggs.

It’s a start, and a good one at that.