New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) prides himself on his record of fighting pork in the state legislature. But he's never taken that mandate as literally as he did Thursday, when he vetoed a bill that would have banned the use of gestation crates on pig farms in New Jersey.
The bill, S. 1921, passed the state Assembly by a vote of 60 to 5 and the state Senate by a vote of 29 to 4 in May, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting the effort to prohibit farmers from using any confinement method that would prevent pigs from turning around or laying down. A poll taken in the state showed that 89 percent of voters were in favor of Christie signing the measure into law.
The bill's passage was hailed by animal rights groups, such as the Humane Society of the United States, as an important symbolic victory for their movement. Though major buyers, such as McDonald's and Smithfield Foods, have recently announced plans to stop buying pork from farmers that use gestation crates, 83 percent of American pigs still spend some time in them, and their use remains legal in 41 states, including all the major pork-producing states. Recent efforts to pass such legislation in four other states have failed, though a bill remains on the table in Massachusetts.
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