Ohio Governor Tim Strickland joined the Ohio Farm Bureau in reaching an agreement with the Humane Society of the US (HSUS) on animal welfare that will avoid a ballot initiative addressing similar issues.
The agreement will afford farmers some time to make changes to their facilities to comply with the requirements outlined in the agreement. The compromise calls for adoption of livestock care standards including bans on veal crates by 2017 and sow gestation stalls by December 31, 2010. Existing facilities utilizing gestation stalls will have until 2025 to eliminate the stalls. The agreement does not prevent housing bred sows in individual stalls until confirmed pregnant.
The deal also establishes a moratorium on permits allowing the use of battery cage confinement facilities for laying hens and bans the use of strangulation as a means of euthanizing livestock. Additional issues addressed in the agreement include:
- Recommendations to the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board (OLCSB) to address mandatory humane euthanasia methods and bans on the transport of downer cows for slaughter
- Support for felony penalties for individuals engaged in cockfighting
- Support for legislation to regulate "puppy mills"
As a condition of the agreement, the HSUS will issue a statement in support of the mission and purpose of the OLCSB and will engage and work with the Board. Organizations representing Ohioans for Livestock Care and the HSUS will examine and jointly fund independent research projects and studies to identify best practices and to work for the highest farm animal care and welfare standards. HSUS will also not initiate litigation (nuisance or otherwise) to attempt to use legal process to obtain the same ends as articulated in the ballot initiative in Ohio through the life of this agreement. HSUS will not fund, advise or otherwise support other organizations to move forward in their place. In addition, the HSUS will not submit a constitutional amendment on animal welfare in 2010 to the Ohio Secretary of State.