The measure failed on a 15-9 vote by members of the Assembly’s Senate Environment Committee. Proponents of gestation-stall bans attempted to re-introduce language outlawing their use. The National Pork Producers Council applauded the committee for “standing with local Connecticut farmers”.
“Farmers are learning how to stick up for themselves and to fight back against extremely well-funded activist groups that think they know better than farmers and veterinarians how to care for animals,” said Dr. Howard Hill, president of NPPC and a veterinarian and pork producer from Cambridge, Iowa. “Hog farmers everywhere are appreciative of the level-headedness and compassion for family farmers Environment Committee members have shown on this issue.”
NPPC has maintained that gestation stalls are a safe and humane housing system for pregnant sows. The organization has argued that the stalls eliminate aggression among sows and allow for individualized care. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians have approved gestation stalls as an appropriate option for housing pregnant sows, NPPC noted.
