The HSUS Files Suit to End California’s Battery Cage Tax Break |
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February 1, 2006
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Compassion Over Killing
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No one, let alone bureaucrats at a state agency, should use tax laws to subsidize criminal activities. Yet the agency charged with administering California's retail taxes, the California Board of Equalization (BOE), does just that—by providing a tax break to factory farms that purchase one of the most abusive confinement devices in modern agribusiness: battery cages for egg-laying hens.
In a lawsuit filed today in San Francisco Superior Court, The HSUS makes a simple demand: that the BOE stop unlawfully subsidizing animal cruelty with taxpayers' money.
Tax Breaks for Cruelty
Many poultry welfare experts and an increasing number of California businesses agree: Battery cages—tiny, wire enclosures so small the birds cannot even spread their wings, let alone exercise—cause massive suffering for millions of egg-laying hens. Growing numbers of consumers and retailers refuse to buy or sell battery-cage eggs, turning instead to cage-free producers. Yet since 2001, the BOE has provided a substantial tax break to egg producers that purchase battery cages, the use of which is a clear violation of California animal cruelty laws.
In 2001, California created legislation intended to provide general tax relief to agricultural producers and give a boost to California's economy. The tax exemption lets producers write off a 5.25% tax for purchases of agricultural equipment. The legislation also charges the BOE with administering the exemption, meaning that the agency has some discretion over which purchases should be covered under the law. What the legislation does not authorize, however, is subsidizing equipment that confines animals in an inhumane manner that violates state law.
"By allowing factory farms to claim exemptions for battery cage purchases, the BOE is subsidizing violations of the state's animal cruelty laws," said Peter Brandt, litigation fellow with the Animal Protection Litigation section of The HSUS.
Hundreds of factory farms confine approximately 19 million hens in battery cages in California. Most of the state's battery cage facilities consist of one or more sheds, each typically caging 125,000 birds. With numbers like these, the tax breaks accorded to the factory farms have the potential to add up to a significant amount of money.
However, when The HSUS requested information from the BOE about how many factory farms have taken battery cage tax breaks since 2001, the BOE refused to comply, and would not even produce non-confidential information concerning the agency's actions. In a companion lawsuit also filed today, The HSUS has asked for a court order compelling the agency to produce public information concerning the tax break.
Battery Cage Confinement Violates California Criminal Laws
Although some states arbitrarily exclude common agricultural practices from the cruelty code, the California penal code makes it a crime to confine any animal without providing an "adequate exercise area." The code also declares that any person who "tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or…cruelly kills any animal," or "subjects any animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses any animal" is guilty of animal cruelty.
Yet all of California's caged hens—estimated at 19 million birds—spend nearly their entire lives inside these tiny cages, unable to move around. In large part due to the intensive confinement of battery cages, birds routinely succumb to osteoporosis, which can lead to broken bones and immobilization. Some birds cannot even reach food and water, dying slowly of starvation or thirst.
Despite such glaring violations, the facilities continue to operate unchecked, largely because of a lack in proper enforcement. Limited by resources and the difficulties of investigating privately owned operations, state prosecutors often overlook the criminal violations on factory farms. The situation further highlights the obligation of BOE to prevent taxpayers' hard-earned dollars from funding the criminal activities inherent in battery-cage egg production.
No Sunny Side to Animal Abuse
Each one of the 19 million California hens in battery cages lives in less floor space than the area of a sheet of a letter-sized paper—not even enough room to flap her wings.
Indeed, battery cage confinement frustrates virtually every normal behavior of hens, causing great stress and physical injuries.
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Compassion Over Killing |
Throughout their lives, the birds can never engage in many important natural behaviors, including nesting, perching, dust bathing, and walking.
Animal welfare experts have long acknowledged that the denial of adequate exercise is one of the worst cruelties involved with battery cages. In a review of the relevant science published by the journal The Veterinary Record, Michael Baxter, Ph.D., a foremost expert on animal housing, concluded that, "[t]he fact that hens are restricted from exercising to such an extent that they are unable to maintain the strength of their bones is probably the greatest single indictment of the battery-cage. The increased incidence of bone breakage which results is a serious welfare insult."
Businesses and Schools Go Cage-Free
In California and across the country, a growing number of major retailers, food suppliers, and universities have created policies to eliminate or greatly reduce their use of eggs from caged hens—including the California-based companies Trader Joe's, Jimbo's Naturally, and Bon Appétit Management Company, and the University of San Francisco. National grocery chains Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace have also responded to the trend.
"Battery cage confinement is too inhumane for any socially responsible company to support," said Paul Shapiro, manager of the HSUS's Factory Farming Campaign. "Not only do retailers and consumers have an obligation not to support this animal abuse, but so does the state of California."
Driving this national trend away from battery cages are consumers—students, shoppers, and chefs who, given a choice, want their eggs cage-free. Some egg producers are already responding to this rapidly growing demand for eggs from hens not confined in cages. Several California egg companies successfully market cage-free eggs, including Judy's Family Farm, Eggology, Clover Stornetta Farms, and Chino Valley Ranchers. Likewise, many large egg producers in California have both cage-free and battery cage operations.
What You Can Do
1. Whether you are a California resident or not, you can use the BOE's online form to urge the board to stop rewarding criminal animal cruelty with a tax break.
2. Or you can write or call the BOE at:
California State Board of Equalization
450 N St.
P.O. Box 942879
Sacramento, CA 94279-0001
Phone: 800-400-7115, dial 0
3. Use our guide to egg carton labels, and never buy eggs from caged birds.
See the Video
Putting the Chicken before the Egg
Related Links
Campaign Victory: Trader Joe's Goes Cage-Free with Its Brand Eggs
The HSUS's Campaign to Ban Battery Cages
About Chickens
Animal Protection Litigation Section
