Housing Proposals Spark Discord with AVMA
US - An upcoming California referendum on mandatory changes to livestock confinement practices has the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) concerned the proposal could compromise animal welfare by requiring producers to adopt systems that don't account for all aspects of humane treatment.
19 September 2008
1 minute read
Although reluctant to involve the AVMA in state politics, preferring instead to address veterinary and animal-related issues at the national level, Association leaders believe the referendum, sponsored by national organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States, warranted a response because it is part of a larger, state-by-state campaign targeting food animal production.
According to the AVMA, the referendum, known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals, or Proposition 2, has roiled the nation's largest state veterinary association. The California VMA's support for Proposition 2 caused small numbers of CVMA members—including the chair of the CVMA agriculture committee—and unaffiliated large animal veterinarians to form an organization opposed to the proposal. This new group, the Association of California Veterinarians, intends on speaking for veterinarians on matters pertaining to California's animal agriculture industry.
In April, a coalition of humane organizations gathered more than the necessary 433,971 signatures to put Proposition 2 on the California ballot this November. The measure would require that, effective 2015, egg-laying hens, veal calves, and pregnant sows have enough room to lie down, stand, turn around, and fully extend their limbs.
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