Press Release

Statement on Biden Administration Catering to the Whims of the Pork Producers Council and Farm Bureau In SCOTUS Case

Impacts of ruling on animal welfare, states’ rights, and climate change could be devastating as a result of Biden position

Pig shown in gestation crate, extreme confinement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tonight, in response to the federal government’s filing of a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down California’s Proposition 12, a voter-approved ballot measure to promote food safety and animal welfare, Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, released the following statement:  

“The Biden Administration’s pandering to Big Agriculture knows no bounds, and the latest example is the U.S. Solicitor General’s work with the Agriculture Secretary to try to overturn a landslide vote of Californians to halt the sale of pork and eggs that come from animals dangerously trapped and overcrowded in crates and cages so small that the animals can barely move. Big Ag has made pleadings in 10 federal court cases aimed at overturning Prop 12 and its antecedents and it has lost every one of them. 

It is shocking that the Biden Administration is attacking the rights of states to enact anti-cruelty and food safety laws, especially in the absence of even a single federal farm animal protection statute and a general federal dereliction of duty when it comes to safeguarding animals reared for food. Millions of people every year are sickened by a range of bacteria and viruses that flow from factory farms. The state’s interest in protecting the interests of Californians could not be more apparent.

When Vice President Harris served as California Attorney General, her office successfully fended off attempts to reverse California’s farm animal confinement standards;  a prohibition on the sale of foie gras and the force-feeding of birds; and bans on the sale of shark fins, elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns. These important animal protection policies are all at risk if this attack on states’ rights prevails before the Supreme Court this fall.  Where is Vice President Harris when so much is at stake for California and other states?

The case is National Pork Producers Council, et al., Petitioners v.  Karen Ross, in Her Official Capacity as Secretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture, et al., No. 21-468.

Here is a roster of cases brought in the wake of Prop 2, A.B. 1437, and Prop 12, with all decisions favoring the state of California and adverse to the plaintiffs.

  • Missouri v. California – similar coalition of states as in the Missouri v. Harris.
  • Natl. Pork Producers Council v. Ross – pork industry challenge to Proposition 12.

Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter

Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News