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11-06-2002, 11:08 AM
Florida Approves Move to Protect Pregnant Pigs
Nov 6, 7:26 am ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida voters on Tuesday resoundingly approved a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit commercial hog farmers from housing pregnant pigs in cages too small to turn around in.
The proposal, placed on the ballot by animal rights activists, passed 55 percent to 45 percent, state election tallies showed.
But the measure will have only limited effect. Among Florida's 10 commercial hog farms, only two use the small stalls known as "gestation crates" to house pregnant pigs, and one of those two farms is going out of business in December, according to a Miami Herald report.
Hog farmers say the stalls are necessary because sows are aggressive and will attack each other to get more food if housed together. Housed in separate cages, they receive individualized nutrition and are prevented from harming each other, they said.
Nov 6, 7:26 am ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida voters on Tuesday resoundingly approved a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit commercial hog farmers from housing pregnant pigs in cages too small to turn around in.
The proposal, placed on the ballot by animal rights activists, passed 55 percent to 45 percent, state election tallies showed.
But the measure will have only limited effect. Among Florida's 10 commercial hog farms, only two use the small stalls known as "gestation crates" to house pregnant pigs, and one of those two farms is going out of business in December, according to a Miami Herald report.
Hog farmers say the stalls are necessary because sows are aggressive and will attack each other to get more food if housed together. Housed in separate cages, they receive individualized nutrition and are prevented from harming each other, they said.