Ohio Issue 2 Aftermath

David Cassuto

Reports of the death of animal advocacy in Ohio in the wake of last fall’s passage of Issue 2 have been greatly exaggerated.  Ohioans for Humane Farms has begun the process of getting an initiative on the ballot that would:

1. Require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to establish minimum humane standards for certain farm animals within six years after adoption of the amendment. The minimum standards would:

• Prohibit a farm owner or operator from tethering or confining any calf raised for veal, pig during pregnancy, or egglaying hen, on a farm, for all or the majority of a day, in a manner that prevents such animal from lying down, standing up, fully extending his or her limbs, or turning around freely. This prohibition would not apply during certain times set forth in the amendment, including, but not limited to, during veterinary treatment, certain livestock exhibitions, and scientific or agricultural research.

• Require that the killing of cows and pigs on farms be performed in a humane manner, as set forth in the amendment.

• Prohibit the killing of cows and pigs on farms by strangulation as a form of euthanasia.

• Prohibit the transport, sale, or receipt, for use in the human food supply, of any cow or calf too sick or injured to stand and walk.

2. Provide that any farm owner or operator who violates these standards is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

3. The measure would contain definitions for certain terms such as farm, farm owner or operator, fully extending his or her limbs, enclosure, and turning around freely.

Getting this measure on the ballot will require 600,000 signatures — a number well within the range of a good grass-roots effort, especially considering the widespread support for responsible agriculture among Ohioans .

Read more about the initiative here , here and here.