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Animal welfare victory threatened as Trump administration targets voter-approved cage-free laws

Legal and animal welfare experts available for interviews on DOJ lawsuit against California’s Proposition 12

a group of chickens in a cage

Andrew Skowron/We Animals

WASHINGTON—Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund, formerly called Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, issued the following statements regarding the U.S. Department of Justice filing a lawsuit against California’s Proposition 12

“California has prohibited the sale of cruelly produced eggs for more than a decade—a law that has been upheld by courts at every level, including the Supreme Court. Blaming 2025 egg prices on these established animal welfare standards shows that this case is about pure politics, not constitutional law,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund. “The Trump-led Justice Department is now choosing to ignore voters in red, blue and purple states alike who have rejected the cruelty of confining hens in cages so small they can’t even spread their wings. To call these commonsense animal welfare laws a ‘regulatory burden’ is not just dishonest, it’s an insult to millions of Americans.” 

"In response to voter and consumer demand, over 45% of the U.S. egg industry is already cage free. Rather than accepting this reality, the Department of Justice is using our tax dollars to fight a battle that's already been settled," said Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. "This is a Justice Department misadventure that ignores the interests of the egg industry, retailers and consumers—all of whom have embraced the cage-free future. Avian influenza and other factors drove up egg prices, not animal welfare laws.”  

This is where the Trump administration wants your food to come from. 

Follow the link for photos demonstrating inhumane and cruel farming practices.  

Experts are available for interviews. 

For more than a decade, Humane World for Animals has led the fight to end the cruel confinement of farm animals, and California’s Proposition 12 is one of our proudest achievements. We helped draft the initiative, build the campaign that secured its overwhelming approval by voters in 2018 and defend its constitutionality at every level of the court system, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

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