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CA. signs bill banning farmers from docking tails

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Schwarzenegger signs bill banning farmers from slicing the tails off California cows

By Tracie Cone

Associated Press
Posted: 10/12/2009 04:51:01 PM PDT
Updated: 10/12/2009 05:00:47 PM PDT

California cows are the first in the nation with the legal right to swat flies as nature intended now that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill banning the painful practice of tail docking that he once mocked as being a waste of legislators' time.

The governor also signed other farm bills he famously ridiculed this summer as he tried to pressure legislators to focus on balancing the state's beleaguered budget.

In a signing frenzy that lasted until his midnight Sunday deadline, Schwarzenegger also approved a state blueberry commission and new label requirements for honey.

"We were always confident that if reality could trump the rhetoric, the governor would see the merits of this," said Jennifer Fearing, who lobbied for the tail docking bill for the Humane Society of the United States, which vows to take the fight against the removal of tails to other large dairy-producing states such as Wisconsin, Vermont and New York.

While he made California the first state in the nation to ban the painful practice, the Humane Society nonetheless described the governor as having a "schizophrenic record on animal protection."

On the same day he protected dairy cows, Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation to crack down on puppy mills by limiting them to 50 adult dogs, becoming the only governor in the six states where puppy mill legislation passed this year to override it with a veto, the group said.

Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said he feared the bill would criminalize the lawful activities of pet shops, kennels and groups that raise assistance dogs.

Dairy officials say the practice of cutting off cow tails to prevent them from slinging manure is practiced on fewer than 15 percent of the state's 1.5 million dairy cows. Docking is usually done without numbing, either with sharp shears or with a tight rubber band that stops the blood flow and causes the tail to die.

Some dairy operators have argued that removing tails improves sanitation, a claim that research has not supported. In 2004 the American Veterinary Medical Association came out against the practice.

This year wasn't the first in which Schwarzenegger has maligned animal welfare legislation and then signed it anyway. As a 2005 bill to ban foie gras lingered, he chastised legislators in a radio interview for spending time talking about "feeding geese" instead of issues he believed were more pressing.

"He just makes a comment without thinking much about it, but when it comes time to assess it on its own merits, he's made the right decision, in our view, a few times," said Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, an animal protection group.

The governor may have been influenced to vote in favor of the farm animal legislation by California voters, two-thirds of whom voted for Proposition 2 last November to give egg-laying chickens more space. The governor of Michigan signed similar legislation Monday.

Sen. Dean Florez, who sponsored the anti-docking legislation, said he was happy the "governor had the intestinal fortitude to reverse himself" despite his public comments.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13546282?source=rss&nclick_check=1
 

hillsdown

Well-known member
Is that surprising.. They want to be just like the Europeans and will do everything they can, even without consulting the industry first, to turn North America into European robots .

BTW it usually is all the Europeans that use that practice when they immigrate to Canada or the US, one reason they left their countries to begin with was the government control over their whole operation, they cannot even treat an animal without a vet .

More to come ; 2013 could be the end of LA vets and producers here in Canada if we cannot get some control back in our industry.....
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Ag chief pledges federal probe of market access
(DesMoinesRegister.com) –

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack promised the Justice Department would take "appropriate action" to ensure there is competition in agricultural markets and technology.

The Agriculture and Justice departments will hold a series of public hearings, billed as workshops, early next year on complaints by farmers and business interests that agribusiness interests have gained too much control.

"The purpose is to gather information, gather stories, gather people's concerns, and then the Justice Department will take that information to decide what steps are required to be sure there is a level playing field," Vilsack said Tuesday to members of the Community Food Security Coalition at the Polk County Convention Complex.

The companies being watched include biotech seed giant Monsanto Co., which controls licensing of key crop traits to the detriment of rivals such as Johnston-based Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Dairy farmers complain that major processors, including Dean Foods, have squeezed any profit out of producing milk.

"The Department of Justice is going to take appropriate action. They are very focused on this," Vilsack said.
 
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