By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed landmark bill AB 1437, which requires that all shell (whole) eggs sold in the state of California be laid by cage-free hens as of 2015. This means farmers have five years to get hens out of the over-stuffed hen houses and into a space where they can stand and spread their wings without constriction.
The bill, which was supported by the Human Society of the United States, comes nearly two years after Proposition 2. Voters approved Prop 2 in November of 2008 to ensure that by 2015 all laying hens would be removed from extreme confinement. AB 1437 seems like somewhat of an annex to Prop 2, as it applies the same requirements to the sale of shell eggs. And with 40 million consumers in California alone, we can be almost certain that Schwarzenegger’s bill will eventually improve the treatment of laying hens nation wide.
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