OkcPets Magazine May 2023

May / June 2023 • OKC Pets 15 Although the organization has made strides in initiatives for small animals, the corporate livestock model of raising and producing meat is still a challenge. “You would be amazed at how talking about animals in agriculture really pro- vokes a lot of people. They all want you to just talk about cats and dogs,” said Mc- Cune. “We asked Oklahomans in a poll in 2017 what they feel is a reflection of a good place to live. Fourth on the list was strong laws to protect animals from cruelty. The top 1 percent said that requiring farm animals to have enough room to stand up, stretch, and turn around was important.” However, for the majority of pigs raised in corporate livestock operations, that is not the case. From birth to market — usually a span of six months — the pigs never see real daylight. The breeding sows are moved from confinement crates to gestation crates where they are unable to move or turn around. After the sow births one litter, the whole process starts over and continues until the sow is unable to breed anymore. For social animals such as pigs, the iso- lation and confinement are akin to torture, said Staubus. “What are our options? One option is to not eat this animal. Other options are giv- ing them more space simply by increasing the size of those pens,” she said. “Another option is to have pigs raised outdoors in sunshine where they are in a more piglike environment or to adopt the practice of pastured pigs that are carefully moved from one area to another to let them do their thing on the land.” Other states such as California have laws that require that all meat sold in the state comes from animals that have a certain amount of space to live in. Already, advocates are lobbying Oklahoma leaders to pass similar laws. Even though “big ag” claims that instituting bigger pens or adopting more humane practices will result in higher prices for consumers, advocates say that is not the case. Oklahoma State University Professor of Agribusiness Dr. Bailey Norwood, author of the book Compassion, by the Pound: the Economics of Farm Animal Welfare, said surveys show that the majority of consumers think animals should be treated better, but when those people shop, their choices do not reflect that concern for animal welfare. Education about how the animals that consumers eat are raised is key in making changes, he said. “Once you educate consumers, they love the idea of not having gestation crates once they learn about the crates. They discover that it doesn’t cost that much more to have bigger pens, and they are happy to pay that extra cost,” said Norwood. “Hog producers would be happy to not use the gestation crates because now they’re getting a premi- um. All this can happen voluntarily.” A Leap Forward The conference also featured small farmers who have pasture-raised pigs, the National Women in Agriculture Association, legal experts, and thought leaders who discussed working solutions on how swine can be raised more humanely without affecting consumer prices too dramatically. “In Oklahoma, all 100 of the attendees at the conference celebrated National Pig Day with a first-of-its-kind symposium comprising lawyers, veterinarians, farm- ers, animal advocates, journalists, students, and philanthropists,” said McCune. “Be assured, this convening was an important leap forward for the future of real animal husbandry in Oklahoma. We know from research that humane agriculture policies do not significantly increase the cost of meat and eggs. You’ll be hearing more from us on that in the future.” For more information, visit https:// kirkpatrickfoundation.com. QUICK FACTS ABOUT PIGS 1. A sow naturally makes a comfy nest when preparing to deliver her piglets and always separates the sleeping area from the latrine area. Pigs in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are forced to give birth on hard slotted floors over a lagoon of their own waste and must stick their legs through the bars to lie down to nurse the piglets. Even after many generations of modern pigs born in this way, the young pig mother will often make nesting motions with her snout on the hard empty floor before her piglets are born. 2. Oklahoma leads the nation in the rise of foreign-owned agricultural land in the state. Oklahoma also led the nation in farm bankruptcies in 2019. 3. At least 60 corporations — including McDonald’s, Sonic, Sodexo, Kroger, and others — have pledged or fully implemented crate-free pork in their supply chains. 4. The United States Supreme Court is expected to deliver its decision soon on California vs. National Pork Pro- ducers Council regarding California’s Proposition 12. The proposition would ban the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that were not raised accord- ing to California’s agricultural laws, which also ban extreme confinement. 5. As of December 21, 2022, Oklahoma was the fifth-largest producer of sow pigs and seventh-largest producer of piglets in the United States. 6. Oklahoma’s last open market (public auction) for hogs — located in Stock- yards City in Oklahoma City — closed in 2016. 7. A company with $9 billion in annual revenue, Seaboard Farms operates a large facility in Guymon, where it slaughters more than six million hogs per year. 8. One out of four hogs in America is owned by the Chinese company WH Group under the Smithfield brand. 9. Properties within a quarter mile of a confined animal feeding operation lose as much as 88 percent of their property value.