Oklahoma held its first-ever conference to discuss humane treatment for pigs Wednesday.
About 100 animal welfare advocates gathered on National Pig Day to talk about how the animals are treated, particularly female sows, at an event organized and supported by the Kirkpatrick Foundation.
They also discussed how owners of the nation’s major pork producers typically raise the animals in a way that favors mega-business profits at both farmers’ and consumers’ expense.
Various speakers addressed the group about confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), how rural economies are impacted by industrial farming, consumers’ attitudes about animal welfare issues, better ways to raise animals consumed for food and pending litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges a proposition California voters approved in 2018 that established minimum square-feet confinement requirements for veal calves, breeding female pigs and egg-laying hens.
The California measure, called Proposition 12, also banned sales of products related to those animals inside the state if those minimum requirements aren’t met, even when the animals are raised and harvested outside the state. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the case.
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