If passed, this initiative will ban the use of gestation crates in the state of Florida. The passage of this initiative will benefit:

1. The humane treatment of animals
2. The protection of our environment
3. The viability of small, family farms and
4. The health of Floridians across the state

The Humane Treatment of Animals: Measured just in sheer numbers, the abuse of animals on “factory farms” dwarfs the exploitation of animals used in other animal industries. Every year, billions of animals are reared and confined on factory farms and then sent to slaughterhouses. It is well known that the veal crate is among the most cruel and deplorable of animal husbandry techniques: young veal calves are kept in tiny stalls for their short 16-week lives confined so intensely that they cannot even move. Perhaps less known, but equally cruel and inhumane, is the way female breeding pigs are treated on factory farms.

Breeding sows are confined in barren metal cages – measuring just two feet wide – for almost their entire lives. The enclosures are called “gestation crates.” Pigs are confined in these crates during pregnancy. They cannot exercise or even turn around and are prevented from engaging in natural behaviors or from satisfying basic psychological needs. After they produce a litter of piglets in a farrowing crate, the mother pig is impregnated again and returned to the miserable life of a gestation crate. This cycle is repeated for up to 10 pregnancies.

Pigs in gestation crates suffer from an array of physical ailments such as joint disorders and lameness, and psychological maladies including chronic stress and depression. The pigs have sores on their bodies from constantly rubbing against the bars of their enclosures. In addition, pigs confined in gestation crates experience chronic stress, frustration, depression, and other psychological disorders. They routinely exhibit neurotic coping behaviors such as repetitive bar biting, sham chewing, and head waving.

Gestation crates are so cruel that they have been outlawed in other countries but, surprisingly, they remain common in the United States. The practice of keeping a female pig in a constant state of pregnancy and confined in a tiny crate for her entire life should be illegal.

The Protection of our Environment: As evidenced in other states with a profusion of factory pig farms, such as North Carolina, the environmental damage of industrial farms can be devastating. Factory farms pollute the air, soils, rivers and shorelines and contaminate groundwater and drinking wells. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, livestock waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. The Florida ballot initiative prevents large corporate pig farms from being established in the state.

The Viability of Small, Family Farms: Small family farms are being supplanted by corporate animal factories, which treat animals as nothing more than unfeeling commodities. Mega hog factories have made it increasingly difficult for small, independent farmers to make a living, forcing them out of business. These family farmers are simply unable to compete against mega-industry.

The Impact on Floridians: Most Florida pig farmers already raise their animals without using gestation crates and so this initiative will not affect them at all. Keeping factory farming out of Florida will help protect our health, our property values and our status as the number one tourism state.

Polls indicate that a significant majority of Floridians, both rural and urban, would vote to restrict the use of gestation crates. Together, we can do something about this inhumane and detrimental factory farming practice and prevent these operations from becoming established in our state.