Creating a Cage-free Future Campaign

Creating a Cage-free Future

We are working toward a national policy to ban gestation crates on pig farms and small cages at laying hen facilities.

The Issue

We are working toward a national policy to ban gestation crates on pig farms and small cages at laying hen facilities. The Pigs Inside Gestation Stalls (PIGS) Act would ban the sale of gestation crates for use in pig farming if they do not allow a pregnant sow to stand up, lie down, turn around, and freely extend her limbs. Dozens of major food retailers including Safeway, McDonald’s, and Subway have pledged to phase out the use of pork or eggs from producers who confine sows in gestation crates by 2022 or laying hens in cages by 2025.

These companies must meet their own publicly announced deadlines, as well as comply with legal requirements in some states, including California and Massachusetts, to stop selling pork or eggs from severely confined animals. We will push companies to honor their pledges and the law. We are also working to protect California Prop 12 and similar state laws from legal attacks by key players in the pork industry.

The Solution

The Pigs Inside Gestation Stalls (PIGS) Act would ban the sale of gestation crates for use in pig farming if they do not allow a pregnant sow to stand up, lie down, turn around, and freely extend her limbs. This bill will level the playing field nationwide for producers, food retailers, and consumers — an especially relevant role for the federal government to play after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Prop 12 and Question 3 that restrict commerce in pork from animals kept in extreme confinement. Already, there are 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oregon, that have banned or are phasing out the use of gestation crates. By wide margins, voters have approved five of five statewide ballot measures to forbid their use.

Actions to Take