January 31st – Farm Sanctuary received word over the weekend that a decision has been made in the case of Farm Sanctuary vs. Corcpork in the Second Appellate District Division Three. The court found in favor of the defendant, Corcpork, following a grant of summary judgment. The issue at stake was whether Farm Sanctuary had standing to bring the case forward. The merits of the case were never heard.
Farm Sanctuary plans to appeal this case to the California Supreme Court in an effort to gain legal standing to represent the interests of the animals who are being inhumanely confined in 2-foot-wide crates by Corcpork in violation of California Penal Code section 597t, which requires that, "every person who keeps an animal confined in an enclosed area shall provide it with an adequate exercise area."
Farm Sanctuary was granted standing in a similar case in California. The California Court of Appeal, in Farm Sanctuary, Inc. v. Dept. of Food Agriculture (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 495, specifically recognized that an animal protection organization should be granted standing to bring suit with respect to a statute enacted for the benefit of animals. That Court concluded that animals were the beneficiaries of the statute and since they could not bring a lawsuit on their own behalf, it was necessary for an animal protection organization like Farm Sanctuary to have standing to bring such a case to court.
In the matter of Corcpork, Farm Sanctuary is not seeking money or damages of any kind. We are simply asking that Corcpork abide by the law and give these animals space to exercise. Smithfield, the world's largest pork company, recently announced that it would phase out gestation crates, the 2-foot-wide enclosures being challenged in the Corcpork case. This move places additional pressure on Corcpork to change their practices and give these breeding pigs room to turn around and exercise. This case is a matter of decency and Farm Sanctuary will exhaust every effort to give these animals representation.
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