“Great Crate Challenge” Comes to Monmouth County

The Monmouth County SPCA is hosting the "Great Crate Challenge" this week to encourage Governor Christie to approve changes to the laws regarding pig gestation crates.

Senate Bill 998 directs the Department of Agriculture to create rules that would require pigs to have room to turn around and extend their limbs while inside the crates.  Monmouth County SPCA President Jerry Rosenthal says right now, the crates are cruelly cramped.

'They're tall, they're about 6 feet tall, but they're only like 2 feet wide," Rosenthal said.  "So, you cannot turn around."

 

Rosenthal will prove that himself as he climbs inside a crate at the Monmouth County SPCA on Wall Street in Eatontown on Thursday, November 13, 2014.  The crate will be open for members of the public to try it on for size from 3pm until 5pm.

Rosenthal says the Senate and the Assembly both overwhelmingly approved changes to the rules regarding the crates, but Governor Christie has yet to sign off on them.  He says there message is fairly simple.

"It's basic humanity," Rosenthal said.  "Yes, people do eat pork, but we can raise them in a humane way."

Organizers also plan to deliver a petition to Governor Christie, urging him to sign the bill.