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(Express-Times file photo)

Growing up with a dog taught me how smart, loving and understanding all animals can be, which is why I believe we should do everything in our power to protect them from harm.

Gov. Chris Christie has a chance to do that now with bill S998, which is sitting on his desk awaiting his signature. This bill makes it illegal for large factory farms to keep pigs in gestation crates, tiny cages that keep them from hardly moving at all.

Trapped, unable to turn around, these pigs are treated like products instead of living beings. I believe that no animal should endure the cruelty of gestation crates, and a 2012 poll shows that more than 90 percent of New Jerseyans agree with me.

This is not an issue of carnivores vs. vegetarians or activists pushing their agendas; it is one of compassion. Pigs are just as intelligent as dogs, if not more so, and they deserve the same basic consideration that we give our family pets. To do that, all that's left is for Gov. Christie to sign the bill into law.

-- Ben Brener,

Princeton

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