Animal welfare activists pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban gestation stalls or tethers in Florida have gathered the necessary 488,722 valid signatures.
That’s enough for the issue to be placed on the November ballot, reports Frankie Hall, state executive for the Florida Pork Improvement Group.
Banning gestation crates in Florida is only their first goal, he points out. There are less than 75,000 sows in all of Florida and only two producers use gestation crates.
Hall says that Floridians for Humane Farms and petition co-sponsor Humane Society of the United States have two ultimate goals in Florida: advancing a total vegetarian agenda and removing all confinement livestock operations.
In response to the latest development, Hall says a state coalition is being formed to fight all 10 proposed constitutional amendments on the fall election ballot. The group’s thrust is to show misuse of the state constitutional process. Among other suggested amendments on the ballot are efforts to ban all smoking in public places and mandate that school classroom sizes not exceed 15 students, explains Hall.