Livestock care is key in Issue 2 debate

There is no such thing as a "factory farm." There are THOUSANDS of family farmers in Ohio alone. HSUS is pushing an ALL VEGAN DIET. Keep those whackos out of our Buckeye State! Vote YES on Issue 2.

Also, if animals are not confined, they are subject to disease ... so they need antibiotics ... and they BITE each other ... many kill other animals. Is that humane??

Jone wrote:

There is no such thing as a "factory farm." There are THOUSANDS of family farmers in Ohio alone. HSUS is pushing an ALL VEGAN DIET. Keep those whackos out of our Buckeye State! Vote YES on Issue 2.
Also, if animals are not confined, they are subject to disease ... so they need antibiotics ... and they BITE each other ... many kill other animals. Is that humane??

Being confined and not having enough room to lay down or stretch their wings are two different things.

It sounds like Issue 2 may not regulate the farming industry enough if it doesn't set minimum standards like enough room for animals to lay down or stretch their wings.

This is a states rights issue, Too much federal inolvement in local practices already. Pass the issure and let Ohio take care of its own.

I don't want activist or goverment running the show. Why doen't this board have anyone to answer to? I am a huge animal rights person and recue. No way do I want some board member in some goverment officials pocket running the show.

That is why this board is being created if Issue 2 passes to look at these practices by professionals like the State vetrinarian and people who are educated in the industry. None of the practices that are currently in place disallow an animal to lay down or stretch their wings as HSUS would lead you to believe.Sows when pregnant are put in to gestation stalls that keep them from fighting one another or killing there young when they are born either buy eatig them or smashing them. 4-5 hundred pound sows can also be very aggresive not only hurting each other but possibly the people who are handling them.
As far as chickens the cages they may be a little cramped and maybe we need to look at reducing the number of birds per pen. But again having them caged also protects them from seroius disease, eating the own feces, and safe gaurding the eggs that they lay. Chickens also have a pecking order. I have been in these large operations and have seen nothing but extreme care for the animals. Though many people look at them as they would their pets , to a farmer they are a commodity used to feed the people, and in order to produce good quality meat, the animals have to be treated well.
Vote yes on Two and allow the State of Ohio to oversee its number one industry Agriculture.

I'm afraid Issue Two is nothing more than a scam
to keep the Humane Society of the United States from really helping these animals. The changes
made here will not go far enough, and I'd rather
an animal rights organization handled this, they
care more for the humane treatment of animals. Not being able to lay down or spread your wings
is cruel. How many farms will Issue 2 shut down
if they do not comply with standards? Let the
animal rights groups handle it, they have more
experience in areas such as this.

70% of the world's antibiotics are used on livestock production. Think about that. Agribusiness looks at production, not animal husbandry. The conditions that have been created, the conditions and models that Issue 2 supporters want to protect, make antibiotics necessary because the animals are PERPETUALLY sick! Would you make changes in your environment if it left you sick and in need of antibiotics constantly? More importantly, this SHOULD NOT be a State Constitution issue. This is another example of multiple agribusiness agents combining money to advance a profit based agenda. It is about profits, not animal health and welfare. By the way, I love to eat pork, chicken, eggs, ect. I just buy from local farmers that I know raise their animals with reverence and honor. I am not a PETA supporter, but take the time to educate yourself on the current models of animal production and look at all the consequences. Contamination of water sources. Antibiotic resistant super bugs and viruses. Deplorable living conditions. Excessive use of chemical "inputs". Genetic manipulation of plants and animals. My God, they have to irradiate our food to kill all the pathogenic bacteria that the current living conditions create. A farmer doesn't raise a couple million chickens. A corporation does. If you lived in close proximity to these animal factories, like I do, you would concern yourself with matters like these. Ask yourself this question: What has profit based corporations given us in other parts of our lives recently? How has our trust been awarded? Don't let the fancy commercials with bucolic images fool you. This is a preemptive "land grab" by corporate board members, not family farmers. Family farmers that live next to their animals don't raise them in illness inducing conditions, and they don't care about legislation that stipulates conditions that they already provide for their animals. Lastly, why do we have a State Dept. of Agriculture? Aren't they equipped to marry the concerns of consumers and producers? Why would we have to back door an agribusiness hand picked committee and amend our Constitution? Makes me think that large ag. corporations desperately want to keep the status quo, and their ridiculous hold on profits and squashing of small family farmers.

No one has mentioned that PETA is online with this to also tell the farmer what to do. Don't forget Obama appointed a guy that wants your animal to be able to sue you. This is what you as a dog or cat owner could very well face.
VOTE YES ON ISSUE 2 Drive out into the countryside and you will see VOTE YES signs on most all farms. I have failed to see a vote NO sign.

All this nonsense equals higher shelf prices at your local grocery stores. All meat that humans consume is slaughtered. If you eat meat this will affect your pockets, one way or the other. Leave things the way they are, Change is always BAD!

Talking about animal welfare is a good idea. Changing the constitution of the State of Ohio is NOT A GOOD IDEA. I'm not so sure about the HSUS (although I also don't thin they believe everything the Farm Bureau will tell you they do), but at least they would give us something with substance to vote on. The Farm Bureau has only given us a chance to vote on a board that will do whatever they want with no oversight. We have no idea what they will decide and will have no way to change it short of changing the constitution again. The voters of Ohio should get to decide how animals here are treated, and issue 2 will not allow us to do that. VOTE NO.

If you're vegan, vote no.
Otherwise, vote YES on Issue 2.

Zach in Marysville wrote:

70% of the world's antibiotics are used on livestock production. Think about that. Agribusiness looks at production, not animal husbandry. The conditions that have been created, the conditions and models that Issue 2 supporters want to protect, make antibiotics necessary because the animals are PERPETUALLY sick! Would you make changes in your environment if it left you sick and in need of antibiotics constantly? More importantly, this SHOULD NOT be a State Constitution issue. This is another example of multiple agribusiness agents combining money to advance a profit based agenda. It is about profits, not animal health and welfare. By the way, I love to eat pork, chicken, eggs, ect. I just buy from local farmers that I know raise their animals with reverence and honor. I am not a PETA supporter, but take the time to educate yourself on the current models of animal production and look at all the consequences. Contamination of water sources. Antibiotic resistant super bugs and viruses. Deplorable living conditions. Excessive use of chemical "inputs". Genetic manipulation of plants and animals. My God, they have to irradiate our food to kill all the pathogenic bacteria that the current living conditions create. A farmer doesn't raise a couple million chickens. A corporation does. If you lived in close proximity to these animal factories, like I do, you would concern yourself with matters like these. Ask yourself this question: What has profit based corporations given us in other parts of our lives recently? How has our trust been awarded? Don't let the fancy commercials with bucolic images fool you. This is a preemptive "land grab" by corporate board members, not family farmers. Family farmers that live next to their animals don't raise them in illness inducing conditions, and they don't care about legislation that stipulates conditions that they already provide for their animals. Lastly, why do we have a State Dept. of Agriculture? Aren't they equipped to marry the concerns of consumers and producers? Why would we have to back door an agribusiness hand picked committee and amend our Constitution? Makes me think that large ag. corporations desperately want to keep the status quo, and their ridiculous hold on profits and squashing of small family farmers.

Zack are you a farmer 0r have yo been inside the operations that you deem unhealthy? What justification do you have in making the statements that you just gave, because if you are going on gossip verses reality then you loose your crediblity in this matter. I have been inside of these operations and they are very clean and well ran.Nor did I see any chickens who were unhealthy. THese operations also dry the manure and hall it out of state. Animal husbandry is part of production. Where did your figures come from that animals use 70% of all antibiotics? Or that these animals are always sick? Actually animal housing has cut down on the amount of sickness animals can get. I ask those who are reading this that as you travel across Ohio, look at where the vote Yes to Issue 2 signs are. They are in the yards of family farms that you trust and know to be caring hard working people who provide your food for you across the state of Ohio. I challenge you to stop and ask them a few questions as to why they support this issue and what they know about animal agriculture.

We don't need a constitutionally mandated board of "experts" to tell us that animals should be allowed to turn around in their cage and lie down. Voters in 8 other states, thankfully, figured this out all on their own and passed laws requiring such minimum standard through their General Assemblies or the ballot initiative. As an Ohioan I'm embarrassed by Issue Two. I'm also embarrassed about this whole issue of keeping the "outsiders" out of Ohio. HSUS has led historic investigations that have not only led to minimum humane treatment for factory farm animals, but safened the food supply. Look up the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. scandal in California that HSUS uncovered that involved the National School Lunch program. If it wasn't FOR HSUS, thousands of children in the national school lunch program would still be getting potentially tainted beef. HSUS is doing what most local humane societies can't because they're overwhelmed with the task of sheltering domestic pets in a bad economy. And you can bet that most of the proponents of Issue Two are in favor of puppy mills, so that we have to cotend with that problem too -- while they bash HSUS and take no accountability. How hateful. VOTE NO ON ISSUE 2.

This SHOULD NOT be a State Constitution issue. Hand picked, this board has no oversight and a voting block of 7 out of 13. Why should 7 people get to make the decisions for the people of Ohio? Vote no and NOTHING changes. Next year, HSUS will bring their agenda here. Just like a democracy should function, we then get to evaluate their proposal/stance. But don't be scared by a well financed scare tactic that a vote of no lets outsiders dictate terms to Ohio farmers. No such thing occurs.

Some of the posters on this forum are a little out of touch.

"If you're vegan, vote no.
Otherwise, vote YES on Issue 2."

That is ridiculous. I love chicken, pork, beef, ect. I make part of my living cooking these animals. I just happen to think that the industry standard in which they are raised are not right. Cheap food at the grocery comes with higher costs.

"No one has mentioned that PETA is online with this to also tell the farmer what to do. Don't forget Obama appointed a guy that wants your animal to be able to sue you. This is what you as a dog or cat owner could very well face.
VOTE YES ON ISSUE 2 Drive out into the countryside and you will see VOTE YES signs on most all farms. I have failed to see a vote NO sign."

Obama's appointed National Director of Agriculture is despised by HSUS and many other groups as being nothing but an agent of corporate agri-business through his record in Iowa. As for people in the country all supporting this measure, that is just factually incorrect. Some people just like the status quo. Do I have to post signs to be relevant?

Lastly, look at what the state of Michigan has done. They sat down and negotiated fair standards and timelines for their farmers. They didn't go overboard and have the HSUS dictate everything to them. They also didn't amend their Constitution with a puppet board that will only maintain the status quo. They had dialogue, neither side got everything they wanted, and the issues/concerns of Michigan consumers who want a say in the food that they are provided won out over one-sided political activism. What a concept. While following Michigan isn't something many in Ohio like to do, this is one area that only makes sense.

Zach in Marysville wrote:

Cheap food at the grocery comes with higher costs.

Cheap food at the grocery is priced right.
If HSUS gets their way, we'll all be paying more at the grocery.
Vote YES on Issue 2.

i'm not some nut case animal rights wackjob but i also dont like to see animals spend their entire life suffering. i think this is a good issue to support just because it will keep the animals healthier. i'm going to eat that meat, so i want it to be as healthy and free from stress as possible.

It is worth almost anything to keep HSUS and PETA from interfering with Ohio business and Ohio law. Issue 2 does that, so I'll be voting for it.

HSUS is an extremist group, essentially PETA with a better name. It has no association with the humane societies we think about.

Their entire goal is to make meat and meat products so expensive that people don't eat them at all. They do not have a reasonable agenda, and they will not go away if you just give them a little. In fact, giving them anything only encourages them to come back for more. The solution therefore is to give them nothing.

To alt in Columbus:

please check these links if you think I'm not educated on these matters

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows...

http://www.saveantibiotics.org/newsroom/pr_3j...

Yes, I have been to these "farms". In Marysville, it's residents have greatly protested the addition of another chicken factory. Our state legislature caved to an Iowa businessman who was kicked out of Europe and then Iowa for running his business status quo. Apparently the concerns of local citizens don' t outweigh the paltry addition of 200 jobs. I am a farmer. I don't like the status quo. I believe animals need air, sunshine and exercise and grass. Ruminants eat grass. Call me crazy. Not all farmers want the confinement farming to stay. Please refrain from stereotyping all farmers for supporting this measure just because some have signs of support in their fields.

STP wrote:

We don't need a constitutionally mandated board of "experts" to tell us that animals should be allowed to turn around in their cage and lie down. Voters in 8 other states, thankfully, figured this out all on their own and passed laws requiring such minimum standard through their General Assemblies or the ballot initiative. As an Ohioan I'm embarrassed by Issue Two. I'm also embarrassed about this whole issue of keeping the "outsiders" out of Ohio. HSUS has led historic investigations that have not only led to minimum humane treatment for factory farm animals, but safened the food supply. Look up the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. scandal in California that HSUS uncovered that involved the National School Lunch program. If it wasn't FOR HSUS, thousands of children in the national school lunch program would still be getting potentially tainted beef. HSUS is doing what most local humane societies can't because they're overwhelmed with the task of sheltering domestic pets in a bad economy. And you can bet that most of the proponents of Issue Two are in favor of puppy mills, so that we have to cotend with that problem too -- while they bash HSUS and take no accountability. How hateful. VOTE NO ON ISSUE 2.

Why do you guys keep insisting that these animals cannot lay down. May be you need to visit one of these farms before you pass judgement.We are not in Cailfornia or Michigan either. What makes you think just because there are a few bad actors that every farm or slaughterhouse and so on is operated in that manner. Come on get a clue. Do you really believe supporters of issue two condone puppy mills. If HSUS really cared why dont they take their millions and house all these abused animals that you talk about. Instead of using it for their employment. It has already been proven that less than 4% of what they raise financally has ever actually helped an animal. Ask the Loiusiana attorney general. HSUS begged for donations to help the animals of hurrican Katrina recieved over 30 million dollars and tried to walk away . And after an investigation finally spent under one million to build a shelter in that state. What happened to the rest? Could you explain..... You can get this information from the Freedoom for Consumers website. I encourage readers to look into this. Vote Yes on Two

This article obscures that the Humane Society of the US and also the Humane Society of Ohio (for those who are concerned about state v. federal "issues") oppose issue 2 for several great reasons.
Go to
http://www.hsus.org/legislation_laws/ballot_i...
to read them.
Those who oppose Issue 2 are doing it for ALL involved--human animals, non-human animals, and this world we share. Passing Issue 2 will give ALL more of the same--and that is NOT GOOD ENOUGH for any of us. I want safe, quality food that is grown and raised under humane conditions, not conditions that make me sick morally and physically. OPPOSE ISSUE 2.