DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa’s Attorney General is joining other states in opposition to a Massachusetts animal welfare lawsuit. Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed an Amicus Brief backing pork producers on the matter. Massachusetts Question 3 imposes certain spacing requirements for sows, or mother pigs, and bans the sale of pork that doesn’t comply.
“It’s really a problem when states start to legislate in that area because we’re talking about hogs for example that are raised in Iowa. Massachusetts doesn’t have authority over them and as states change those regulations over time, it’ll be harder and harder for Iowa farmers to compete,” Bird said.
Attorney General Bird says Massachusetts’ law will hurt pork sales in Massachusetts, as well as the entire northeast.
“They even apply their regulations to pork that is shipped through Massachusetts. Through their ports, Massachusetts has a lot of warehouses that house the pork that’s needed for the northeastern part of the United States. It’s a real problem for pork producers,” Bird said.
Bird says Question 3 is unconstitutional.
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“It’s also a very dangerous precedent to let states tell Iowa farmers how they have to raise their pigs throughout the United States, cause how could one farmer comply with all those regulations?,” Bird said.
Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says the law sets a bad precedent.
“This is really a slippery slope because at what point do then they start dictating in what conditions, what hourly wage, the list could go on and on in terms of what parameters they could put on any product. It could paralyze an entire industry,” Hinson said.
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Hinson introduced the ‘Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression’, or EATS Act to fight back. It would stop states from creating regulations that affect producers in another state.
“I think we need to let consumers drive that choice. If you as a consumer decide you don’t want bacon that’s raised a specific way, you can buy different bacon. I think that’s the right we should have here as Americans and we shouldn’t be banning breakfast and that’s what these states in essence have done,“ Hinson said.
The lawsuit in Massachusetts goes to trial later this month.
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2023-10-11 23:20:00
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