New California confinement law needs oversight to ensure animal welfare, veterinarians say

Now that California has passed Proposition 2, limiting the confinement of animals, the American Veterinary Medical Association says veterinarians need to be involved in ensuring the new guidelines are implemented humanely.

While the measure was passed as an animal-rights bill, banning chicken cages and sow stalls in favor of free-range environments, the AVMA says that without careful oversight, the changes may be even more harmful to animals. "For example, moving laying hens to free-range production systems may allow them to engage in more species-typical behaviors, but it also increases the hens' risks of illness and injury because it increases their exposure to disease vectors and predators," says Dr. Gail Golab, head of AVMA's Animal Welfare Division.

Dr. Ron DeHaven, CEO of the AVMA, says that while "it was encouraging to see voters in California take such an interest in animal welfare ... veterinarians and animal-welfare scientists must be involved in its implementation to make sure that resulting changes in animal housing actually improve conditions for the animals they are intended to help." (Read more; to read The Rural Blog's previous coverage of Prop 2, click here)