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In excellent legislative news this week, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued his first veto ever, striking down a bill that would have dealt a painful blow to farmed animals statewide.

House Bill 2150 would have changed the classification of animals labeled as “poultry” or “livestock,” thereby creating a separate set of laws governing their treatment. Separate but unequal, clearly.

Basically, the bill would have exempted farm animals from anti-cruelty laws by claiming that livestock are not considered “animals” within the state of Arizona. Clearly, the agricultural industry had a hand in the bill’s creation.

Animal advocates and activists across the state were staunchly against the bill, and flooded the governor with requests for a veto. Happily, he obliged.

“When changing state laws relating to the safety and well-being of animals, we must ensure that all animals are protected, and mindful that increasing protections for one class of animals does not inadvertently undercut protections for another,” the Governor announced in his veto letter.

It’s always a good day when farm animals are acknowledged as living things—versus cogs in the wheel of a factory farm.

Click here to read Gov. Ducey’s full letter about the veto.

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