"Humane" Farming Issue Heats Up in New Jersey
Poll Finds Widespread Opposition to Practices Labeled "Humane" by New Jersey Agriculture Department

Trenton, NJ - New Jersey is the only state in the U.S. seeking to produce standards for the "humane" raising of farm animals, and it has become a key battleground for humane advocates challenging cruel factory farming systems.

A new poll of 801 New Jersey residents conducted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University was released today and shows widespread opposition to the standards proposed by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) for the "humane" treatment of farm animals. When the standards were first published in May 2003, the department received more than 6,000 comments expressing concerns and opposition.

The Eagleton poll found that most citizens agree with the department's definition of "humane" as "being marked by compassion, sympathy, and consideration for the welfare of animals," but that New Jersey citizens overwhelmingly disagree that the farming practices deemed "humane" by the department meet this definition. The NJDA's "humane" standards allow pigs and calves to be confined in two-foot wide crates, but 83 percent of NJ citizens consider these systems cruel. The NJDA also claims that it is "humane" to starve chickens for two weeks to manipulate their egg production cycle, but 81 percent of New Jerseyans disagree.

According to Gene Bauston, president of Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal advocacy organization, "New Jersey can lead the nation in preventing inhumane factory farming practices. Unfortunately, the state department of agriculture seems more interested in codifying cruelty than in developing meaningful humane standards. The draft standards produced by the department fail to meet their legislative mandate and are completely out of line with societal values. "

For more information about the Eagleton poll and efforts to prevent inhumane farming practices in New Jersey, please see www.njfarms.org.