By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer<br><br><br><br>
MIAMI - Some pregnant pigs in Florida are headed to the slaughterhouse, an unintended consequence of a new state constitutional amendment meant to protect them.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
Last month, voters made Florida the first state in the nation to ban the confinement of pregnant pigs in cages so narrow they can't turn around.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Only two farmers in the state, though, use the small cages and they've decided to get out of the hog business. And that means getting rid of their pigs.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
"We can survive it (the constitutional amendment), I suppose, but we figured it would pass so we made preparations to drop out," Dade City farmer Henry Mathis, one of the hog producers, said Thursday.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Steve Basford, a farmer whose operation is in the Florida Panhandle, didn't return a call seeking comment.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis, who also raises cattle and grows hay, is sending about 100 sows to Mississippi to be killed; another 100 hogs are headed to a slaughterhouse in Jacksonville, Fla.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis said he has about 150 pregnant sows that he'll keep until they give birth. He expects to give the baby pigs to friends in Iowa.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Farmers say small cages keep pregnant pigs from fighting and injuring themselves, and make feeding the animals easier. The cages have been endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Animal rights activists, however, call the cages cruel and debilitating.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
"If you had to be tortured and killed or just killed I think most of us would go for just killed," said Bruce Friedrich of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis, who expects to have the last pigs off his land by next month, says the amendment is another thorn in the side of farmers.<br><br><br><br>
"Farmers are slowly dying," Mathis said. "They're a rare breed anyway a rare breed among the rare breed."<br><br><br><br>
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MIAMI - Some pregnant pigs in Florida are headed to the slaughterhouse, an unintended consequence of a new state constitutional amendment meant to protect them.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
Last month, voters made Florida the first state in the nation to ban the confinement of pregnant pigs in cages so narrow they can't turn around.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Only two farmers in the state, though, use the small cages and they've decided to get out of the hog business. And that means getting rid of their pigs.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
"We can survive it (the constitutional amendment), I suppose, but we figured it would pass so we made preparations to drop out," Dade City farmer Henry Mathis, one of the hog producers, said Thursday.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Steve Basford, a farmer whose operation is in the Florida Panhandle, didn't return a call seeking comment.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis, who also raises cattle and grows hay, is sending about 100 sows to Mississippi to be killed; another 100 hogs are headed to a slaughterhouse in Jacksonville, Fla.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis said he has about 150 pregnant sows that he'll keep until they give birth. He expects to give the baby pigs to friends in Iowa.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Farmers say small cages keep pregnant pigs from fighting and injuring themselves, and make feeding the animals easier. The cages have been endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Animal rights activists, however, call the cages cruel and debilitating.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
"If you had to be tortured and killed or just killed I think most of us would go for just killed," said Bruce Friedrich of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Mathis, who expects to have the last pigs off his land by next month, says the amendment is another thorn in the side of farmers.<br><br><br><br>
"Farmers are slowly dying," Mathis said. "They're a rare breed anyway a rare breed among the rare breed."<br><br><br><br>
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