A disclosure before proceeding: I am an omnivore, preferring my animal flesh charred over an open flame though I seldom eat red meat since a little round of prostate cancer and radiation a few years back. I also believe responsible research using animals has probably saved my life and the lives of many other humans, and I have no objection to that.
So why is this initiative necessary? Californians for Humane Farms is a sponsor of the initiative, and has a Web site outlining their motivations. Californians for Sound Farm Animal Agriculture has been identified in several interviews and news articles as a group opposing the initiative, I couldn't locate their website, if they have one. Google turned up an interesting article online from the journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
But no one seems to be telling me why this initiative is necessary. Evena press release from the Humane Society of the United States discussing their support of the measure states that restaurants, producers and retailers in California are abandoning the acts that would be outlawed by the initiative.
The initiative might be the perfect solution to all of California's livestock quality of life issues ever. There might be a really good justification for waiting six years to implement this perfect solution, presumably letting animals suffer in the interim. But absent a good pitch (feel free to use the comments) the libertarian streak in me kicks in and says 'no more laws.' The delegator in me says 'let the legislature take care of this.' The end result being that I vote no. &
Just as with every carnie at the fair making their pitch, telling me their game was the easiest, their prizes were the best, and upon victory my status in the eyes of my husband would increase beyond measure, if you want to put more laws on the books, and particularly if you want to bypass the elected legislature and the give-and-take in the drafting process that comes from a bill moving through the legislature, the burden's on you to make your case.
Maybe they will. They certainly have plenty of time before the November election to do it, but they haven't done it yet.
-Citizen Voices blogger Chuck Hartley is an attorney who lives in Escondido.
