Farm animal rights law would require room to roam

By EVELYN NIEVES - Associated Press Writer VACAVILLE, Calif. -- Kim Sturla began bringing goats, pigs, chickens and cows once slated for slaughter to the Animal Place sanctuary 20 years ago, before supermarkets offered eggs from cage-free hens and beef was advertised on menus as being hormone free. Two decades later, the treatment of farm animals is a national issue being debated in state Legislatures and put before voters who want to have a say in how their food is raised. Footage circulated on the Internet of sick farm animals being kicked and beaten has intensified calls for reform. "People want conditions to change," said Sturla, who co-founded the Animal Place sanctuary for abused and discarded farm animals, in 1989. "On this issue, you don't have to give propaganda. In fact, you have to downplay the conditions or people... [read full story]