This bill will prohibit the use of hen cages, hog crates and veal crates within 5 years. It will accomplish exactly what HSUS has threatened to do by ballot initiative in 2010.

Status of bill: Introduced 10/29/09, assigned to House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee. The bill has had no hearings and will likely go nowhere since Issue 2 passed.

What you can do: Contact your State Representative and urge him/her to oppose this anti-agriculture bill.

This bill increases the penalty for cruelty to companion animals. As introduced, the bill makes the penalty for UNintentional cruelty higher than the penalty for INtentional cruelty. We have asked for clarification but to date this error has not been corrected.

Status of bill: Introduced 3/10/09, passed the House Criminal Justice Committee on 11/19/09. It is currently on the calendar awaiting a vote by the House of Representatives.

What you can do: Contact your State Representative and urge him/her to find out why the penalty for UNintentional cruelty is being raised to a level that is higher than the penalty for INtentional cruelty.

This bill increases the penalty for cockfighting from a misdemeanor to a felony. Other provisions of the bill which were objectionable were amended at OAAO’s request, but an amendment to make the penalty a misdemeanor rather than a felony as in the original bill (requested by a committee member) was replaced at the last minute with a different amendment which put the penalty back to a felony. As a result, OAAO’s initial position of "interested party" has changed to that of "opponent".