Posted February 13, 2014
Missouri’s Attorney General has filed a lawsuit in
federal court challenging a California law regulating the living conditions of
chickens, according to an article by the Associated Press available here. The LA Times also reported on the story here.
The lawsuit, filed by Missouri Attorney General Chris
Koster, was filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno. The suit challenges the California law set to
take effect in 2015 which requires eggs sold in the state to come from hens
raised in cages that allow enough space to lie down, stand up, turn around and
fully extend their limbs.
In 2008, the ballot initiative, California Proposition
2, was approved by voters with 63.5 percent for the initiative and 36.5 percent
against. In 2010, California legislators
expanded the law to ban the sale of eggs from any hens not raised in compliance
with California’s animal care standards.
Koster argues that the California law violates
interstate commerce protections of the U.S. Constitution by “effectively
imposing new requirements on out-of-state farmers.” “If California legislators are permitted to
mandate the size of the chicken coups on Missouri farms, they may just as
easily demand that Missouri soybeans be harvested by hand or that Missouri corn
be transported by solar-powered trucks,” said Koster.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) said
that states have a right to pass laws that protect the health and safety of its
residents and that eggs produced in “battery cages” have a higher risk of
salmonella contamination.
For more information on animal welfare, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
