I think that chickens are perfectly happy in cages

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Representatives for presidential candidates Senators John McCain and Barack Obama recently discussed farm policy with Lancaster Farming. Representing Sen. Obama was David Lazarus, national rural vote deputy director for Obama. Representing Sen. McCain was John Block, national co-chair for McCain's farm and ranch team and former U.S. secretary of agriculture under President Ronald Reagan.

Extraits

Lancaster Farming: What would an Obama administration’s view be on the balancing act between animal rights versus animal welfare?

Lazarus: Senator Obama supports humane handling and animal welfare just like most producers and consumers. Where there are gaps in the regulatory framework, like the non-ambulatory cattle loophole, we’ll need to work to improve standards to ensure animals are being treated humanely.

Rien d'extraordinaire, la langue de bois habituelle ...Avec le représentant de Mc Cain, par contre, les choses sont claires :

Lancaster Farming : What is a reasonable approach to animal welfare?

Block: It should be science-based, rather than on someone's whim or personal opinion. For example, I think that chickens are perfectly happy in cages. It's a lot cleaner than them running around in their own you-know-what. Many people involved in animal rights form their own ideas about how to change things before checking the facts. Some things will be changed over time, but we don't need to go overboard, we need to be realistic. Such changes should be approached from a safety in food production standpoint. A fair percentage of animal rights people happen to be vegetarians. They're not even pushing animal rights. They don't want us to harvest animals for food. So we don't need be going along with them.

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Candidate Reps Discuss Farm Policy Proposals - 24/10/08
www.lancasterfarming.com/node/1550