April 9, 2002

State starts to look at animal treatment guidelines
by Laura Kaessinger, Gannett State Bureau

TRENTON -- Holding signs urging people to "Say no to veal" and "Stop factory farming," more than 150 people rallied in front of the Statehouse with actors Mary Tyler Moore and Grant Aleksander demanding better treatment and living conditions for farm animals.

"Across America, billions of farm animals are being raised in miserable conditions," said Gene Bauston, president of Farm Sanctuary, the animal rights organization sponsoring the protest. "They are treated like inanimate commodities. They are packed in cages and crates so tightly that they can't walk, turn around or even lay down comfortably."

New Jersey passed a law in 1996 requiring the Department of Agriculture to develop standards for the humane treatment of animals. The guidelines, however, have not been established.

The reason of the delay, said Hope Gruzlovic, department spokeswoman, is funding was not provided until January.

"So, under the new administration, we've been working intensively on the development of standards since January," Gruzlovic said. "It had become a priority under this administration ... And we expect that we will be ready to propose them for public comment in the fall."

Gruzlovic said $70,000 was made available this year after earlier unsuccessful attempts to get the funding through the state budgeting process.

Moore, chairwoman of Farm Sanctuary's Sentient Beings Campaign, spoke at the rally on how farm animals are increasingly being treated like "production units, instead of living, feeling animals."

"Like all animals, farm animals have feelings and they deserve to be protected from cruelty," she said. "As a civilized nation, we have an ethical obligation to recognize farm animals as sentient beings and to prevent their suffering."

New Jersey's Morristown was the first municipality in the nation to declare that animals have feelings. Cedar Grove was the second.

The Department of Agriculture "will be determining what is the minimum standard of care for each species of animal," Gruzlovic said. "The standards will cover a variety of animals. They'll cover horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, poultry, and others."

Gruzlovic said New Jersey does not have a veal industry, but the state does have some dairy farmers who sell calves for veal.

There are 33 restaurants in the state who signed a petition saying that they will not serve veal from calves raised in crates and fed a diet that causes anemia, Bauston said.

The state's largest farmers organization, New Jersey Farm Bureau, said it hopes the guidelines will be based on accredited expertise and scientifically-based reasoning.

In turn, our members and farmers across New Jersey can continue to provide Garden State residents with the high-quality foods they expect at reasonable prices," said John Rigolizzo, president of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. "That's one of our primary objectives as farmers."