Prop 12 Passed: Cages are MOO-ving on out!

Election results are in and major players in the food industry can no longer be caged.

Cages will be eliminated from environments in which egg-laying hens, breeding pigs, and calves raised for veal live.

Although the livestock will now have more room to roam, the lack of confinement poses some risks as well.

Katy Tarrant, an Animal Science Professor at Fresno State, who specializes in poultry science, explained that more space actually can cause harm to birds.

“When we consider welfare for the birds, we have to keep in mind skeletal integrity. So, when we remove cages from these types of systems one concern would be increase in bone damage on the keels as well as legs, the leg bone,” Tarrant said.

Tarrant explained that livestock aren’t the only ones to consider. Producers and consumers will also be impacted by the initiative.

“Egg quantity and egg quality are not going to be the same as in a normal production standard. So, effectively, what you’re looking at when you move to a cage-free system is going to be increased cost for the producer in order to retrofit their current systems, in order to meet the new standards as well as a likely decrease in egg production,” Tarrant said.