Contacts:
Tricia Barry, Farm Sanctuary, 607-583-2225 ext. 233,
tricia@farmsanctuary.org

Unanimous Decision of New Jersey Supreme Court Results in Precedent-Setting Victory for Farm Animals

"The Court therefore strikes as invalid the definition of `routine husbandry practices'"

TRENTON, NJ—July 30, 2008— In a unanimous landmark decision, the New
Jersey Supreme Court today struck down the New Jersey Department of
Agriculture's (NJDA) regulations exempting all routine husbandry
practices as "humane" and ordered the agency to readdress many of the
state-mandated standards for the treatment of farm animals. A broad
coalition of humane organizations, farmers, veterinarians, and
environmental and consumer groups, led by Farm Sanctuary and
represented by the public interest law firms Meyer Glitzenstein &
Crystal, Washington, D.C., and Egert & Trakinski, Hackensack, N.J.,
brought the case to the state's Supreme Court. In this monumental
case, the Court ruled that factory farming practices cannot be
considered humane simply because they are widely used, setting a
legal precedent for further actions to end the most egregious abuses
on factory farms throughout the U.S. The Court also rejected the
practice of tail-docking cattle, and the manner in which the NJ
DA had provided for farm animals to be mutilated without anesthesia.

"This is a major victory for farm animals in New Jersey, and will
pave the way for better protections of farm animals nationwide," said
Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. "Setting a
legal precedent in a unanimous vote that clarifies that commonly used
practices cannot be considered humane simply because they are widely
used will build on our momentum in challenging the cruel status quo
on factory farms."

Many states have an exemption to their cruelty code for "routine"
or "commonly accepted" practices which leaves animals confined in
factory farms unprotected from abuse. However, in 1996, the New
Jersey Legislature directed the NJDA to develop
appropriate "standards for the humane raising, keeping, care,
treatment, marketing, and sale of domestic livestock." Eight years
later, on June 7, 2004, the agency finalized regulations that
specifically authorized many cruel farming practices and essentially
gave blanket protection to all common agriculture practices.

In 2004, a coalition filed suit alleging that the NJDA failed to
establish standards of treatment of farm animals that are "humane" —
as required by the New Jersey Legislature in 1996 — and instead
sanctioned numerous inhumane practices, including all routine farming
practices, used to raise animals for meat, eggs and milk. This
coalition included Farm Sanctuary, The Humane Society of the United
States, The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Welfare Advocacy, Save Our Resources
Today, Center for Food Safety, and the Organic Consumers Association,
among others.

In addition to striking down the agency's sweeping exemption
for "routine husbandry practices," the Court further held that tail
docking could not be considered humane, and the manner in which
mutilations without anesthesia including castration, de-beaking and
de-toeing could not be considered humane without some specific
requirements to prevent pain and suffering. The Court made clear that
the decision to permit these practices as long as they are done by
a "knowledgeable person" and in a way to "minimize pain" could
not "pass muster."

According to Katherine Meyer, lead attorney for the
plaintiffs, "Having the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously
recognize that the mutilation practices commonly used in the
industry – cutting off the beaks and toes of live animals without
anesthesia – is painful to these animals is an important milestone in
educating the public at large about these practices and the need for
reform."

"This decision will protect thousands of animals in New Jersey, and
also calls into question some of the worst factory farm abuses
practiced throughout the country," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice
president of animal protection litigation for The Humane Society of
the United States. "All animals deserve humane treatment, including
animals raised for food."

Unfortunately, the Court failed to take the opportunity to strike
down regulations that allow the confinement of breeding pigs in
gestation crates and calves in veal crates, as well as the transport
of sick and downed cattle. Although the Court noted that these
practices are controversial and that downed animals "suffer greatly,"
it found the record on appeal insufficient to warrant striking the
regulations at this time. The decision comes amid a massive momentum
nationwide to phase out these cruel systems and recent highly
publicized investigations of downed cattle that resulted in animal
cruelty convictions. The plaintiffs will push the agency vigorously
to phase out these cruel and inhumane practices when the regulations
are revised.

In April 2008 the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production
released the results of a two and a half year study that supports a
phase out of common factory farming practices such as the use of
gestation crates, farrowing crates, tethering, forced feeding, tail
docking, and body-altering procedures that cause pain. The European
Union outlaws many of these practices, or is in the process of
phasing them out. Florida and Oregon have outlawed gestation crates,
and Arizona and Colorado have outlawed both gestation and veal
crates. An anti-confinement initiative on California's November 2008
ballot – Proposition 2 – if passed, would outlaw gestation crates for
breeding pigs, veal crates for calves and battery cages for egg-
laying hens in the nation's largest agricultural state.

More information about the New Jersey lawsuit can be found at
www.njfarms.org.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection
organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked
to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry
through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms,
public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and
refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and
Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued
animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by
educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional
information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by
calling 607-583-2225.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest
animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or
one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been
fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy,
education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting
cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.

The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(NJSPCA) is the law enforcement agency that is charged with enforcing
the animal cruelty statutes in New Jersey. The organization was
created by the NJ Legislature in 1868.

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA ® (The American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals ®) was the first humane organization
established in the Americas, and today has more than one million
supporters throughout North America. A 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit
corporation, the ASPCA's mission is to provide effective means for
the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.
The ASPCA provides local and national leadership in animal-assisted
therapy, animal behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane
education, legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York
City headquarters houses a full-service, accredited animal hospital,
adoption center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law
Enforcement department enforces New York's animal cruelty laws and is
featured on the reality television series "Animal Precinct" on Animal
Planet. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org.