Summary Description
- Prohibits confining sows, calves and egg laying hens in a manner that prevents the covered animal from lying down, standing up, or fully extending their limbs, as well as turning around freely without touching a wall or another animal.
- TopicThe topic of the legislation or policy covered by the text
- AgricultureAnimal welfareSales Bans
- SpeciesThe animal, or type of food production, covered by the text
- Dairy cowsCalves
- JurisdictionCountry or geographical area where the text applies
- USA
- Sub-jurisdictionCountry or state where the text applies
- Michigan
- Type of ActWhether the act is a law, regulation, or policy, or another type of text
- Legislation
- StatusIndicates whether the act is in force or not
- In force
- Legal ValueWhether the text is binding or not
- Binding
- Date enactedDate the text was adopted
- 2019
- Date updatedDate when the entry was last updated by the CALF team
- June, 2023
- Official citation
- Michigan Animal industry Act, Act 446 of 1988. (Amended by Senate Bill 174)
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Strengths
- Sets a moratorium on the keeping of sows in gestation crates, as well as the confinement of egg-laying hens in cages.
- Prohibits all types of battery cages, including enriched ones.
- Includes a sales ban on eggs from caged hens and prohibits their importation.
- Requires that hens are provided with enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors, including scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas.
- Prohibits gestation crates for sows.
- Includes an enforcement mechanism by the Attorney General.
- Weaknesses
- The sales ban only covers egg-laying hens. The sales ban further excludes egg products.
- Includes a transition period until December 2024.
- In the case of a gestating sow, the period beginning 7 days before the gestating sow's expected date of giving birth is excluded.
- The law still allows the minimal space allowance per animals in some cases, for instance for testing or in farms holding less than 3,000 egg laying hens.