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Florida's Pigs Get Wings
By David Martosko, Director of Research, Center for Consumer Freedom
ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS had several dogs in the Nov. 5 election fight, including a statewide ban on cockfighting in Oklahoma (approved), a bid to expand gaming at greyhound racing tracks in Arizona (not approved), and a measure to turn vaguely-defined animal "cruelty" into a felony in Arkansas (defeated).
The agenda of Arkansas animal rights activists was stopped in its tracks, largely due to the investment of time and money by a coalition of farming and animal industry groups called "Arkansans For Responsible Animal Laws."
But the most watched battle on the animal-rights radar screen was a heavily funded and unethically run effort to give pregnant pigs specific protections under Florida's constitution. This was approved by a 55-to-45 margin.
Ironically, the election season was not yet over for Farm Sanctuary, the national animal rights group that donated over $465,000 to this campaign. On Nov. 15, the Florida Elections Commission fined Farm Sanctuary $50,000 after finding it guilty on multiple counts of breaking campaign finance laws in its zeal to get the "pregnant pigs" amendment on the ballot.
News coverage of this story so far has missed the boat completely. The Reuters news wire (Nov. 5), for instance, claimed that "the measure will have only limited effect," since only two Florida farms currently use the now-banned "gestation crates."
But animal rights activists are already looking ahead to the next series of battlegrounds.
Shortly after the votes were tallied, Farm Sanctuary issued a press release predicting that "the Florida victory will lead to similar reforms across the nation." The radical group In Defense of Animals is saying in its e-mail newsletter that it will "have far-reaching influence in other states." And individual activists are reading the tea leaves, claiming that this is just "the very, very beginning of future moves" toward their goal of "total animal liberation."
After talking to Florida Farm Bureau spokesperson Frankie Hall, the Associated Press concluded that "the passage of the amendment was not surprising, as supporters actively campaigned and the opponents did not."
Hall summed up the animal rights political climate nicely: "You've got millions of dollars going into the campaign on one side and none on the other. What do you expect?"
See also:
Vote NO on Florida Amendment 10: Piggy PAC FCUSA press release, Oct. 29, 2002.
For further information contact: Center for Consumer Freedom, PO Box 27414, Washington, DC 20038; Tel: (202) 463-7112; www.consumerfreedom.com.