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New Jersey Developments
Student Letters
Letter from Montgomery High School Students
Dear Assemblyman Bateman:
In the United States, animals raised for food production are
commonly kept under heinous and inhumane conditions. Modern factory
farms treat these animals as commodities, or "food production
units," not as the living, feeling beings that they are. Egg-laying
hens are packed into battery cages so small that the birds cannot
even spread their wings, and the sensitive ends of their beaks
are sliced off without anesthesia. Sows are confined in gestation
crates barely two-feet-wide, and forced to endure open sores and
extreme boredom. Newborn calves are chained by the neck in crates
only twenty-two inches-wide, and fed an intentionally iron-deficient
diet to produce the pale, anemic flesh sold as veal. These are
only a few examples of the harsh farming practices, which are
becoming more common in New Jersey.
Scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that these intensive
confinement systems cause animals to suffer immense physical and
mental anguish. More humane alternatives are available, however,
these abusive farming practices are still considered legal. In
fact, farm animals are specifically excluded from the federal
Animal Welfare Act and are not protected under most of New Jersey's
anti-cruelty laws. Therefore, these intolerable practices not
only continue, but are spreading throughout the state.
Battery cages for hens, gestation crates for pigs, and veal crates
for calves have all been outlawed in European countries. The United
States, as a civilized and progressive nation, should follow this
lead and illegalize such cruel and inhumane treatment. New Jersey
stands ready to be the first state in our country to institute
legislation protecting farm animals. In 1995, the state legislature
amended its anti-cruelty statute and, in 1996, enacted legislation
requiring the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to produce
"standards for the humane raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing,
and sale of domestic livestock" (section 4:22-16.1). Unfortunately,
this cannot be enforced, as the standards have, six years later,
still not been drafted. With each day that passes, more and more
animals are being forced to endure the terrible conditions instituted
on factory farms. The standards for humane treatment are desperately
needed to prevent more of this great and unnecessary suffering.
We, as students of Montgomery High School, urge you to write to the New
Jersey Department of Agriculture and ask that it fulfill the legislative
mandate by drafting standards to eliminate battery cages, gestation crates,
and veal crates. We also ask that you support Assemblywoman Loretta
Weinberg's legislation, A-1948, to prohibit cruel veal production in New
Jersey. We are proud to live in such a progressive state, in the forefront
of legislation in America banning cruel factory farming confinement, and
would like to see New Jersey lead the nation in the development and
enforcement of humane standards for farm animals. Thank you for your help
in eliminating cruel treatment on factory farms and guiding America toward a
more compassionate approach.
Sincerely,
Melissa Cavagnaro-Wong
David Purcell
Jessica Rosenberg
Neil Kaushal
Stephany Tzeng
Peter Tzeng
Kevin Chen
Stephanie Cavagnaro-Wong
Krishna Jagannathan
Arturo Pizano
Marissa Wronka
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