RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, over nine billion animals are used for food production in the United States every year; and

WHEREAS, for centuries, farm animals have been viewed as merely breakfast or dinner, and at least among Americans in modern times, arriving in sterile-looking plastic wrapped packages on grocery store shelves, and therefore have rarely been considered as needing legal protections; and

WHEREAS, it is undeniable that farm animals are capable of awareness, feeling, and suffering and are therefore sentient beings; and

WHEREAS, human beings have an ethical obligation to refrain from causing pain and suffering to all sentient beings, not just humans; and

WHEREAS, this obligation is not only beneficial to the animals, but improves society's well-being by raising our ethical standards and establishing an example of kindness and caring; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor, pursuant to section 711-1109, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

WHEREAS, nationwide, some sectors of the agribusiness industry subject cattle, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals to overcrowding, intensive confinement, and other conditions causing them pain and suffering which in Hawaii is cruelty to animals; and

WHEREAS, many other countries have passed laws to prevent cruel farming practices; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the State recognizes our reliance on farm animals and declares them to be sentient beings to be treated with respect and protected from inhumane treatment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the the Board of Agriculture.

Report Title:

Inhuman Treatment of Farm Animals