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Proposition 2 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 4, 2008. It passed with 63% of the votes in favor and 37% against. Submitted to the Secretary of State as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, the initiative's name (as with others such as Proposition 8) was amended to officially be 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 [1], 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 deals with 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.[1]
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 it was sold in (i.e. both shell eggs and liquid eggs), and the state where it was produced.[2] Proposition 12 was implemented on January 1, 2022, but was temporarily blocked by a judge following persistent efforts by the pork industry.[3] In 2023, in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Proposition 12.[4]
- ^ Hall, Carla (2015-02-04). "Egg-laying hens in California win another court battle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ^ Torrella, Kenny (2021-08-10). "The fight over cage-free eggs and bacon in California, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ "Will new bacon law begin? California grocers seek delay". KPBS Public Media. 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ Nair, Devatha P. (2023-05-11). "Supreme Court Upholds Prop 12". Retrieved 2023-05-11.