WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a legal challenge to California’s animal welfare laws, which Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, deems “anti-farmer, anti-consumer, and anti-animal welfare.”
A statement released by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy criticized the DOJ’s effort to deconstruct state-level laws. The organizations aim to improve the lives of laying hens and protect public health.
Pacelle claimed, “This absurd lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice would do more than eviscerate mainstream animal welfare laws to stop the extreme confinement of laying hens,” adding, “it will also put American egg farmers on the chopping block.”
Pacelle stressed that if California’s cage-free housing mandates are overturned, the domestic egg market could flood with low-cost eggs from factory farms in Mexico. He asked, “Nearly half of all eggs produced in the United States are cage-free, and where are they supposed to go if all state laws requiring cage-free housing standards are eliminated?”
The challenged laws, Proposition 2 in 2008 and Proposition 12 in 2018, were passed to ban the extreme confinement of laying hens. According to Animal Wellness Action, other states including Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts and Colorado have adopted similar animal welfare policies.
USDA data reveals that 44.8 percent of all U.S. eggs come from uncaged hens.
Pacelle argued that the recent surge in egg prices was not caused by cage-free laws but by the H5N1 outbreak and the USDA’s response. “The surge in egg prices within the last three years came about because of H5N1, and the USDA’s reckless and overreaching depopulation of laying hens,” he said.
Jim Keen, DVM, Ph.D., director of veterinary science for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, stated, “Returning to the era of extreme confinement of laying hens is a prescription for the spread of H5N1, the death of tens of millions of laying hens, and stratospheric egg prices.”
The DOJ argues that the federal Egg Products Inspection Act takes precedence over state regulations, a stance Animal Wellness Action strongly disputes. “That law has nothing to do with humane treatment,” Pacelle said, noting that the same agricultural industry stakeholders resisting state laws have also blocked national standards.
“There are no federal farm animal welfare laws that protect any animals on the farm in the United States, so there is no federal preemption at work when it comes to animal welfare on the farm,” he added.
Pacelle noted that similar legal challenges are often rejected by federal courts, citing the pork industry’s failed attempt to overturn Massachusetts’ Question 3, which restricts the sale of pork from confined pigs.
Scott Edwards, general counsel for Animal Wellness Action, stated, “States have the constitutional authority to ensure humane treatment of animals and to protect their citizens from unsafe and unethical agricultural practices.”
“DOJ should be defending these rights — not working to hurt American farmers, consumers, and animals,” Edwards added.
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy are exploring ways to intervene in the case to defend state-level protections.
