Global Governments Bring Equity Law to Animal-People, Part 2 of 2

On today’s program we’ll start by visiting the United States of America to learn about recent legislation that brings us closer to a compassionate world. The United States took a significant step toward protecting the lives of companion animal-people in November 2019, when His Excellency Donald Trump a Shining World Peace Leader Award and Shining World Leadership Award for Compassion laureate, signed into law the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act.

One of the most inhumane practices carried out in livestock factories is the confinement of millions of animal-people in crowded, filthy cages for their entire lives. In November 2018 California passed Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. This law sets specific minimum space requirements for animal-people, thus effectively banning cages for egg-laying chicken-people, gestation stalls for mother pig-people, and crates for baby calves. California has recently introduced another progressive bill. Since then, the state governments of Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington have passed similar laws.

On February 18, 2022, The Honorable Adrin Nazarian, a Member of the California State Assembly, introduced Assembly Bill No. 2764, which calls for a moratorium on the creation of new slaughterhouses and livestock factories in the state. It also prohibits the expansion of any existing slaughterhouses and livestock factories. Violators could be subject to a fine of US $10,000 per violation per day.

In 2021, Germany took a historic step toward reducing cruelty to chicken-people in the egg industry. In May 2021, the federal government of Germany passed legislation prohibiting the traditional “culling” methods of shredding or gassing male baby chick-people. Animal-people livestock raising is not only cruel, but has also been shown to be one of the primary causes of climate change, generating more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than all forms of transportation combined. In January 2022, Zoe Mayer, a member of the Bundestag, the German federal government, delivered the following speech. "If we take our climate targets seriously and if we take animal welfare in Germany seriously, then we also have to getaway from these enormous numbers in animal husbandry. For all those who no longer want to support the killing of animals for their consumption or who want to reduce their consumption, we must also create good offers. That means supporting plant-based diets, that means supporting vegetarian and vegan options, and doing so across the board. Because only in this way will we create real freedom of choice for all citizens who want animal-free, sustainable and climate-friendly diets."