Hens win! Animal welfare claims can't stand up in court

The court renders a common sense opinion on hen housing. On Feb. 27, 2017, the 9th Circuit United States Court of Appeals issued a common sense opinion regarding housing and safety conditions where hens lay eggs.Compassion Over Killing, Animal Legal Defense Fund, (NGOs) and 6 individuals claimed FDA, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Federal Trade Commission were required to “…promulgate regulations that would require all egg cartons to identify the conditions in which egg-laying hens were [housed] during production.” The Court of Appeals agreed with all of the federal agencies that they “…lacked authority to promulgate plaintiffs’ proposed labeling regulations for shell eggs.” Had the six Attorneys General challenging the California legislation used data from the federal agencies in a more appropriate legal procedure, they might have won in a U.S. District Court in California rather than losing. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has given the six state Attorneys General a new opportunity to amend their Complaint and win for egg farmers. The 6 Attorneys General have not chosen this correct legal procedure and instead have appealed a portion of their legal loss to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Likely to lose.)