Florida Court Clears a Path for Pig Initiative |
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January 24, 2002
The Florida Supreme Court has given the campaign to ban gestation crates for pregnant pigs the green light. The campaign recently cleared a major hurdle in the initiative-petition process on January 17, 2002, when the Florida Supreme Court deemed that the proposal to ban the practice of keeping pigs in small metal crates met its two requirements of having only one subject and a fair title and summary.
The ballot committee, Floridians for Humane Farms, co-sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, applauded the unanimous decision. The group must gather a total of 650,000 signatures from registered Florida voters by June to ensure inclusion on the November 2002 ballot.
The initiative, titled "Animal Cruelty Amendment: Limiting Cruel and Inhumane Confinement of Pigs during Pregnancy," is unique in that it is the first citizen initiative to tackle the industry practice of intensive confinement of farm animals. Previously, the Florida legislature avoided debating a ban on gestation crates, and the constitutional initiative may succeed in bringing the issue to the public's attention as well as getting it onto the statutes.
