The San Francisco SPCA is proud to support Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement initiative. This reasonable ballot measure would prohibit the cruel factory farming practice of locking mother pigs, egg-laying hens and calves in cages so small they can barely move an inch for their entire lives. California veterinarians, our fellow animal shelters and responsible farmers across the state agree: It’s time to end this barbaric and unnecessary practice. No animal — not a cat or a chicken or a dog or a pig — should be treated like this.

In 2008, nearly two-thirds of California voters voted for Proposition 2, which required that hens, pigs and calves be given enough space to turn around and extend their limbs. This was a big step in the right direction and significantly reduced animal suffering. Many California egg producers converted to cage-free housing. Large companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Walmart — and countless small businesses — enacted policies to switch to cage-free eggs and meat. And at least 12 states followed California’s lead in banning forms of extreme confinement.

Now, a decade later, with other states and companies having enacted stronger reforms than ours, it is time to update California’s law.

The extreme confinement of farm animals is not only bad for animals but also for California families. More than a dozen studies have found, for example, that caged hens are more likely to harbor the dangerous bacteria salmonella than cage-free birds. (If a bird can’t exercise, her immune system breaks down. And if she’s wing-to-wing with other sick birds, disease spreads rampantly.) According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nearly 80,000 Americans every year are sickened by eggs tainted with salmonella. Over the past decade, almost 1 billion eggs from caged chickens nationwide have been recalled because of salmonella outbreaks.

The egg industry itself acknowledges the problem. One industry publication wrote, “Salmonella thrives in cage housing.” Hospitalizing a child or an elderly relative due to food-borne illness takes an enormous toll.

Prop. 12 would require cage-free housing systems for egg-laying hens, pigs during pregnancy and veal calves within California and require that meat and egg products sold in the state meet the same standards, no matter where they’re produced. It also extends the requirements to the sale of liquid eggs. It would almost certainly result in fewer Californians being sickened by salmonella.

Prop. 2 required farm animals to have room to extend their limbs but didn’t spell out exactly what that meant. Prop. 12 specifies an industry standard of amounts of usable floor space for each species. Many egg operators have switched to cage-free housing since 2015 when Prop. 2 went into effect, but there is no way to know if all operators selling eggs in California have switched because enforcement depends on citizens filing complaints.

The Chronicle Recommends “The Chronicle recommended a “no” vote on the first proposition, saying the ballot box is not the place to regulate this aspect of California agriculture. That is also true this time, and voters should reject Prop. 12.” —Editorial, Sept. 21 To read the editorial, go to http://bit.ly/2NZytRa

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Factory farms that cut corners on food safety, animal welfare and environmental issues have pushed family farmers out of business. That’s why more than 100 California family farmers endorse Prop. 12.

Ten years ago, Bay Area residents overwhelming voted yes on Prop. 2. We should do so again on Prop. 12.

Brandy Kuentzel is general counsel for the San Francisco SPCA.