WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, reacted to the release of a Farm Bill for consideration by the House Committee of Agriculture expected during the week of Feb. 23.
Pacelle was a key architect of all the anti-confinement ballot measures approved by voters by double-digit margins in several states. The committee provision to repeal state sales standards to promote humane treatment of farm animals — laws upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2023 — zeroes in on overturning Prop 12 in California and Question 3 in Massachusetts. Those measures, which are very similar in form, target gestation-crate confinement of sows, laying hens, and veal calves. They restrict certain immobilizing crates or cages for in-state production of live animals or in-state sales of pork, eggs, or veal that rely on those methods, regardless of where production occurred.
“It’s no small matter for a handful of lawmakers to try to overturn the votes of 10 million Americans who approved measures to halt the use of immobilizing crates for pigs. Given that nearly all House Democrats are on the record in opposition to the Save Our Bacon Act, and dozens of Republicans also oppose it, it’s not a serious legislative proposal. If this is the offering from the committee majority, there’ll be no Farm bill in 2026.”
In the 119th Congress, there were 32 Democrats and Independent Senators who signed a letter opposing the Senate version of the SOB Act. There were 14 Republicans who lined up on a letter to the Agriculture Committee leaders against the SOB Act. And in the fall, there were 182 Democrats who signed onto a letter adding their voices of opposition to the SOB Act.
The organizations released an in-depth report on the issue from its veterinary and science team. That report is here.