Hard places: farm, ring, tank, lab, wild

2002

Gestation crates, and Florida's vote

economicsbiology

Many pregnant sows spend months in metal stalls about two feet wide, too narrow to turn around. Producers say crates stop sows fighting and let each one be fed and checked. In 2002 Florida voters approved Amendment 10, one of the first bans on gestation crates anywhere in the country, written into the state constitution.

Several states and many food companies have since moved toward group housing.

Sources: Ballotpedia, Florida Animal Cruelty Amendment (2002); Florida Constitution, Art. X, s. 21

Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2023

Cage or cage-free?

economicstrade & commercialization

Most American eggs once came from hens in wire 'battery' cages with little room to spread their wings. After state laws and company pledges, cage-free hens grew to 38 percent of the U.S. laying flock by June 2023, by USDA count. Cage-free barns let hens walk, perch and dust-bathe, but they can be dustier and hens can peck each other.

No housing system is perfect. Which trade-offs matter most to you, and to the hen?

Sources: USDA ERS, Chart of Note: cage-free share of the flock

Photo: Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2018 to 2023

Proposition 12 and the Supreme Court

economicstrade & commercialization

California voters passed Proposition 12 in 2018. It bans selling pork, eggs and veal in California from animals kept in less than a set amount of space, even if they were raised in another state. Pork producers sued. On May 11, 2023, in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the Supreme Court upheld the law 5-4.

A state's moral choice, or a burden on the national market? Economists are still measuring the price effect.

Sources: Supreme Court opinion, 21-468; California Proposition 12 (2018)

Photo: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2016 to 2023

The circus without elephants

historytrade & commercialization

After years of protests and lawsuits, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey retired its touring elephants in May 2016 to its conservation center in Polk City, Florida; most later moved to White Oak Conservation in northeast Florida. The circus closed in 2017, then returned in 2023 with acrobats and no animal acts. Many states and cities now ban elephants or wild animals in traveling shows.

Ringling also won lawsuit settlements from animal groups in 2012 and 2014. Both sides claim the story proves their case.

Sources: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Photo: Sanjeevrs2000, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2013 to 2016

Orcas and the marine park

biologytrade & commercialization

The 2013 film Blackfish told the story of Tilikum, an orca at SeaWorld Orlando, and asked whether orcas can thrive in tanks. Attendance fell. In March 2016 SeaWorld announced it would stop breeding orcas, so the orcas now in its parks will be the last. SeaWorld points to its rescue teams, which have helped many thousands of stranded and injured animals.

Watch wild orcas on a live cam, then list what a tank can and cannot give them.

Sources: Blackfish (film); SeaWorld

Photo: George Chernilevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Ongoing

Fur

economicstrade & commercialization

Most fur today comes from farmed mink and foxes. Britain banned fur farming in 2000, and many European countries followed; the Netherlands closed its mink farms early after outbreaks of COVID-19 in 2020. California banned the sale of new fur products from 2023. The fur trade argues fur is natural, long-lasting and biodegradable, unlike plastic fakes.

Compare the life cycle of a fur coat and a synthetic one: animals, oil, waste.

Sources: Fur farming

Photo: Patrick Reijnders, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

1959 to 2022

Animals in the laboratory

biologyeconomics

Mice, rats, fish and other animals are used to test medicines and study disease. In 1959 two British scientists proposed the 'three Rs': replace animals where possible, reduce their numbers, and refine methods to cause less pain. The European Union banned animal testing for cosmetics in 2013. The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 (December 2022) ended the U.S. rule that every new drug be tested on animals before people, allowing cell and computer models instead.

Many doctors say some animal research still saves human and animal lives. When is it justified, and who decides?

Sources: Three Rs (animal research); FDA Modernization Act 2.0, S. 5002 (Congress.gov)

Photo: Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Law and history

Animals made to fight

history

Dogfighting and cockfighting are felonies in every state, and federal law bans them in the territories too since 2018. The museum's separate room on animal fighting covers the history and the laws only, for grades 9 to 12.

See the room 'Animals made to fight' for the full story.

Sources: Lamby: Animals made to fight

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Today

Puppy mills and hoarding

economicstrade & commercialization

A puppy mill is a large commercial breeder that puts profit ahead of the dogs' health. Large breeders that sell to stores must hold a USDA license, but critics say inspections are too few. Animal hoarding is different: one person keeps far more animals than they can care for, often from a mental-health problem rather than cruelty. Both fill shelters. See the cats and dogs wing on where pets come from.

See the companion-animal room on the numbers: bred, sold, kept, adopted.

Sources: USDA APHIS, Animal Welfare Act; Lamby: Bred, sold, kept, adopted, killed; Lamby: Where pets come from

Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2022

Big cats in backyards

trade & commercializationhistory

Thousands of tigers and lions once lived in private homes and roadside zoos, where visitors paid to pet and photograph cubs. The Big Cat Public Safety Act, signed in December 2022, bans new private ownership of big cats and public contact with them; owners at the time could keep their animals if they registered them. Florida already required strict wildlife-commission permits.

Who was the law protecting: the cats, the public, or both?

Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Big Cat Public Safety Act; Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263 (Congress.gov)

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Since 1975

The wildlife trade

trade & commercializationeconomics

Parrots, reptiles, ivory and rare plants cross borders by the millions. CITES, a treaty in force since 1975, lists which species may be traded and under what permits. Smuggling still thrives because prices are high and inspectors are few, and Florida's ports are a main door for live reptiles entering the United States.

Use supply and demand: what happens to a smuggler's price when a species becomes rarer?

Sources: CITES, What is CITES?

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Gestation crates, and Florida's vote

Cage or cage-free?

Proposition 12 and the Supreme Court

The circus without elephants

Orcas and the marine park

Fur

Animals in the laboratory

Animals made to fight

Puppy mills and hoarding

Big cats in backyards

The wildlife trade

Room quiz