Voters in four states decisively sided with the animals on November 5, turning a traditionally ho-hum mid-term election into a historic one by casting their ballots the humane way on five separate measures on animal welfare. The groundbreaking initiative took place in Florida, where voters approved a ban on gestation crates for pregnant sows, the first time any state has passed a law to limit this inhuman factory-farming practice.
But citizens in Oklahoma, Georgia, and Arizona also gave the nod to animals. Oklahoma voters approved State Question 687 with a 56.2% majority, making that state the 48th to ban the barbaric spectacle of cockfighting. Voters in George, meanwhile, approved a measure to create a specialty license plate to fund statewide spay/neuter programs, and Arizona voters resoundingly rejected a proposition which would have expanded gambling at greyhound and horse-racing tracks to prop up a dying industry that profits from animal cruelty.
Oklahomans, in fact, scored a double victory for animals when they also rejected a measure that would have nearly doubled the number of signatures needed to place any animal welfare initiative on the ballot.
The only loss for animals on Election Day came in Arkansas, where voters rejected a measure to increase penalties for animal cruelty.
“The win in Florida is truly historic,” states Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. “Never before has a state adopted a law to prevent farmers from closely confining animals on a factory farm. The people of Florida have set a new standard for the humane treatment of farm animals with the passage of Amendment 10.” The HSUS collaborated closely with The Fund for Animals, Farm Sanctuary, and the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida on the initiative.
While not as historic as Florida’s vote, the decision in Oklahoma to outlaw cockfighting was a significant victory in a state with 42 major cockfighting pits and thousands of active cockfighters. “The people of Oklahoma have outlawed this form of inhumanity, and stood tall against a major counter campaign,” claimed Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. “The law is closing in the cockfighters and there are now only two states that allow these types of gladiatorial spectacles. We will aggressively work to stop the practice in the remaining states.” The HSUS collaborated most closely with The Fund for Animals on this campaign, though Farm Sanctuary and the ASPCA also strongly supported the efforts.
The Initiative and Referendum Institute, a group that tracks ballot measures, reported that animal protection emerged as the biggest winner in the issues campaigns of 2002.
Below is a detailed examination of each ballot measure:
Arizona: By a lopsided margin of 20% to 80%, voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 201, which would have expanded gambling at horse and greyhound racing tracks in order to provide a new revenue streams for these abusive industries. Animal-protection groups actively oppose the greyhound industry because of its mistreatment and killing of dogs. Thousands of surplus dogs are culled every year, frequently by the cheapest and cruelest methods available, including gunshots and bludgeoning. The failure of Proposition 201 helps to minimize the profit that can be made from the exploitation of greyhounds. Grey 2K USA, a greyhound advocacy group, worked hard to educate voters on this issue.
Arkansas: In the day’s only loss, Arkansas voters soundly rejected Initiated Act 1 by a count of 37% to 63%. The act sought to make extreme acts of animal cruelty a class D felony, as well as toughen laws against cockfighting, creating penalties equivalent to those for dogfighting. The Arkansas Farm Bureau led a massive disinformation campaign against Act 1, falsely arguing that it would ban all hunting and fishing. The University of Arkansas Medical Sciences unit also came out against the measure, providing ample cover for cockfighters and animal torturers, as did hunting groups such as Ducks Unlimited.
Florida: Voters passed Amendment 10 by a count of 55% to 45%. The measure requires that confined pregnant sows be allowed to turn around freely, a stipulation that thereby bans the use of the “gestation crate.” Gestation crates are two-foot-by-seven-foot cages in which pregnant pigs are housed for almost all of their dismal existence. The crates are so small that confined pigs can’t even turn around. Years of this tortured life lead to a variety of physical and psychological ailments. With the passage of Amendment 10, no longer will these intelligent animals be forced to endure the monotony of gestation crates.
Georgia: Amendment 6, passed by a vote of 71% to 29%, creates a special spay/neuter license plate to help fund low-cost sterilization programs for companion animals. Every year, tens of thousands of dogs and cats are killed in animal shelters in Georgia simply because there are not enough homes for them. Still others eke out a miserable existence as strays, suffering from disease, starvation, and exposure to the elements. Georgia joins 19 other states that already have a special animal-friendly license plate and, like them, Georgia will help raise millions of dollars to help solve the problem of pet overpopulation.
Oklahoma: In a contest closely watched throughout the nation, and the subject of daily reporting in Oklahoma, voters handily approved State Question 687, making that state the 48th to ban cockfighting. Now, only Louisiana and a few counties in New Mexico remain! The Tulsa World and The Oklahoman, two of the state’s largest newspapers, strongly endorsed the campaign and helped set the tone on this issue, as did Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, who stated, “Cockfighting is cruel; it promotes illegal gambling and it is simply embarrassing to Oklahoma to be seen as one of only a tiny handful of locations outside of the Third World where this activity is legal."
“With this important victory, the people of Oklahoma can proudly say they do not allow the brutal sport of cockfighting in their state,” says Pacelle.
Also in Oklahoma, voters rejected State Question 698, which sought to amend the state constitution to increase the number of signatures needed to qualify an initiative to promote the welfare of animals. In a hugely important vote for animal advocates, the measure was defeated by a count of 46.4% to 53.7%. The measure was referred to the ballot by the state legislature—at the behest of cockfighters and other animal-use groups; if approved, the measure would have nearly doubled the number of signatures needed for an initiative on animal welfare to make the ballot. The Oklahoman called SQ 698 “shameful” and “dishonest,” and The Tulsa World wrote, “We hope Oklahoma voters will have more sense than their elected representatives and see this unfair and extreme measure for what it is: an attempt to interfere with voting rights and undermine the very democratic principles that this country was founded on.” Some extreme hunting groups, such as the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance of Ohio, teamed up with the cockfighting lobby and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau to attempt to pass this measure.
