By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) expected Ohio Issue 2, which established an animal care standards board, to pass so they didn’t spend money fighting it, said Paul Shapiro, an HSUS spokesperson.

“We did not run a single paid ad against Issue 2 while the proponents, the agriculture lobby, spent about $4 million,” Shapiro said.

“We never really viewed Issue 2 as a poisonous package,” Shapiro said. “We just viewed it as an empty package because Issue 2 does not require any improvements in how farm animals are treated. It creates a level of bureaucracy that can look at the Issue but it does not require any improvements.”

HSUS can still run their own initiative, Shapiro said.

“Issue 2 was sold to many in the agribusiness community as a way to prevent an animal welfare ballot initiative when the farm bureau knew as well as anyone that it does not prevent a subsequent ballot initiative; in fact it provokes one,” Shapiro said.

HSUS tried extensively to bring all sides together to have a meaningful dialog about farm animal welfare, Shapiro said.
“But the farm bureau refused to speak and instead instructed its friends in the legislature to refer this virtually symbolic measure to the ballot, Shapiro said.

HSUS did have a cordial meeting with Ohio Farm Bureau in February; HSUS wanted to determine if the two groups could have a dialog about farm animal welfare, to see if they might find any common ground, but there was no substantive discussion about farm animal welfare.

“And it’s not that crazy to think that that would be possible. It’s been possible in other states now like Michigan, Colorado and Maine. In all three of those states the HSUS and agriculture groups came together and jointly drafted bills,” Shapiro said.  “Not everybody got everything they wanted, that’s the nature of political compromise, but everybody found them palatable. We jointly drafted them, they went to the legislature, and were all enacted into law. In Ohio the farm bureau took the opposite stance.”

After that February meeting farm bureau refused to meet with HSUS, Shapiro said. “We prefer cooperation rather than confrontation,” Shapiro said. “We tried extensively to have a more cooperative relationship but the farm bureau simply refused. This is a provocative move by the farm bureau to amend the constitution to put their favored industry dominated council in the constitution.”
This provokes HSUS into pursuing their own measure which would require that three categories of animals - calves raised for veal, egg laying hens, and pigs used for breeding are capable of doing four things: standing up, lying down, turning around, and extending their limbs, Shapiro said. 

“From day one that’s what the laws in the other states have said and that’s what we would prefer for Ohio,” he said. “We are examining our options for our own ballot measure now.”