VICTORY for Hens: CA Ban on Battery-Cage Egg Sales Upheld!

A decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has brought a big victory for millions of hens!

The Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Missouri and five other states that sought to block enforcement of California’s Proposition 2, which bans the sale of eggs from battery-caged hens. Compassion Over Killing (COK) applauds the news, after joining Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and Farm Sanctuary in 2014 to stand up for hens and this important legislation.

Battery hens spend their lives intensely confined to barren cages so small the birds cannot spread their wings or even turn around, as COK has exposed.

California voters recognized the immense suffering of these hens and passed Proposition 2 with overwhelming support in 2008.

But, despite the massive public support for Prop 2, shortly before the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, it was challenged by the Attorney General of Missouri, along with Attorney Generals of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, and Iowa.

In support of Prop 2 — and most importantly, the hens — COK, ALDF and Farm Sanctuary in submitting a “friend of the court” amicus brief, and the district court dismissed the lawsuit. Missouri appealed, but the Ninth Circuit has upheld the district court’s decision — a great victory for animals!

COK has long worked to protect egg-laying hens, who suffer horrendous cruelty behind the closed doors of animal agribusiness, and to inform and empower consumers to decide if eggs are really all they’re cracked up to be. Read about COK’s efforts to ensure truth in egg labeling!