One court after another has shot down the pork industry’s repeated challenges to the legality of our game-changing farm animal welfare laws. The most recent resounding win for animals comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which has upheld a Massachusetts law that bans the cruel confinement of egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal.
This landmark animal welfare law—which we at Humane World for Animals drafted—is known as Question 3 and was a 2016 ballot measure that Massachusetts voters approved by a 78% majority. This law also prohibits the in-state sale of products from animals confined in such inhumane conditions, wherever they were raised.
This ruling affirms an earlier decision by a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in the case Triumph Foods v. Campbell, rejecting every one of the pork producers’ and processors’ trough of arguments and confirming that Question 3 is constitutional and not preempted by federal law. For example, the court declared definitively that Question 3 is about “pork production, rather than pork inspection,” which is the focus of federal law, and is therefore constitutionally sound. This ruling is of a piece with our successful efforts to defend California’s similar Proposition 12 and other state-level animal welfare and public health measures concerning animals raised for food. Time and again, we’ve turned back Big Pork in its efforts to destroy these laws.
Across the country—in red, blue and purple states—voters support and have passed measures to protect farm animals from extreme confinement. Yet an out-of-touch segment of the pork industry continues to waste time and resources on lawsuits and legislation aimed at overturning these humane standards. Their lobbyists keep pushing for a “fix” to Question 3 and similar laws, despite leading producers like Hormel, Tyson and Perdue’s Niman Ranch indicating they can comply with Question 3 and Proposition 12.
In the Massachusetts case, our Animal Protection Law department at Humane World for Animals worked alongside the law firm Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila to file multiple legal briefs in support of Question 3. A broad coalition of animal protection groups stood with us in this effort, including the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Animal Rescue League of Boston, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Outlook, The Humane League, Farm Sanctuary, Animal Equality and Compassion in World Farming. We are also immensely grateful for the steadfast work of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General to successfully defend Question 3 in this challenge.
But our fight to defend the protections we’ve helped to secure for animals raised for food is far from over. Even as we continue to defend Proposition 12 against new legal challenges in California, a new threat has emerged in the U.S. Congress, the Save our Bacon Act (H.R. 4672), Big Pork’s latest attempt to wipe out Question 3, California’s Proposition 12 and laws like them. Harvard Law School analyzed this pending federal bill and concluded that, if enacted, it would create widespread confusion among regulators, farmers and the public nationwide. If passed, the legislation could nullify more than 600 state and local laws, posing a serious threat to existing protections for animals and the environment. This dangerous bill could also undermine efforts to control disease (creating risks for public health and food safety), and policies that support veterans and small farmers.
One court after another has affirmed the legality of animal welfare laws like Question 3, including the Supreme Court of the United States upholding Proposition 12 in 2023. (The Supreme Court also recently rejected a petition by the Iowa Pork Producers Association to review a Ninth Circuit decision upholding Proposition 12.) There is simply no excuse for further attempts to use Congress to justify extreme confinement.
We will continue to stand up for farm animals. We will push back against efforts in Congress to dismantle voter-approved protections such as Question 3 and Proposition 12. We will keep defending these key laws in the court system. And we will fight every step of the way toward a more compassionate food system.
Please join us: Send a clear message to Congress that lawmakers should honor the well-being of animals and the will of the voters. Together, we can create a future where cruelty to animals has no place in our food systems.
Sara Amundson is president of Humane World Action Fund.
