The latest activity on AB 594 -- formerly titled "Pigs: tethering and confinement"-- gives pigs the heave-ho in favor of Medi-Cal coverage of programs to help people quit smoking. We'd rather have seen Medi-Cal cover meat/dairy/egg-quit programs, but alas, such is politics. Perhaps the sponsor came to realize that this issue is really one of enforcement of existing CA law, or that a proposed HSUS co-sponsored 2008 ballot initiative to ban gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages has a far better chance of passage. Get your nominations in on which big-name ballot supporter will be the CA hole card.
Why we need a ballot initiative to further define what is already a punishable offense begs the same question as why we needed an amendment to the Health and Safety Code to do the same thing. But once you actually get in a courtroom on a farm animal cruelty-related matter, you wise-up pretty fast and start initiating even faster. Break in your new non-leather walking shoes and no smoking on the job.
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