Factory Farms

This afternoon, most members of the North Carolina State Legislature publicly reaffirmed their commitment to catering to the interests of deep-pocketed factory farmers when they raced to pass H.B. 405, the dangerous ag-gag bill, for a second time. Although they succeeded by just eight votes in the House and a slender margin of four in the Senate, there is now no stopping this overreaching, wildly unpopular bill from becoming state law.

Yesterday, Foster Farms—one of the country’s largest chicken producers—announced that it is aiming to remove from its chicken flocks all antibiotics that are also used in humans (barring exceptional cases). This follows similar announcements by other companies like Tyson, Perdue and McDonald’s.

Update—May 29, 2015:  Great news! Governor McCrory vetoed H.B. 405, the dangerous ag-gag bill that would have silenced whistleblowers and kept North Carolina residents in the dark about horrific animal abuse on industrial farms. If you live in North Carolina, please visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center now to thank the Governor for opposing this bill and to urge your state legislators to let the veto stand.