Gov. Chris Christie might have infuriated animal rights activists and some state Democrats with a politically-calculated veto of a New Jersey pig crate ban bill last week — but at least one Iowan pol many say he was aiming to please seems satisfied with the decision.
According to The Des Moines Register, which also had a piece out today about the prospective Republican presidential candidate trailing his competitors in visits to the primary battleground state, Iowan Gov. Terry Branstad called Christie’s vetoed a “good decision.”
Added Branstad:
“This is an issue that most people in New Jersey have no clue. They don’t raise hardly any pigs in New Jersey, they don’t have farrowing crates. But this is something we do have knowledge of in Iowa, and I give him credit for listening to and understanding that this is something we’re very concerned about and that does impact consumers as well because if these baby pigs are crushed and die that means there are fewer pigs and that impacts the price of pork.”
Christie has become something of an ally of Branstad’s, who he helped prod to re-election victory last month in the NJ gov’s capacity as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
In response to Branstad’s comments, Matthew Dominguez, Farm Animal Protection’s Public Policy Manager, fired back.
“It’s ironic that Gov. Branstad insulted the people of New Jersey have “no clue,” when it’s Branstad himself who’s ill-informed about gestation crates. The bill in New Jersey seeks to ban gestation crates, which are pre-birthing crates. There are no piglets at risk when they are in utero. Yet Branstad’s only substantive argument focuses on crushing of the pigs. Who is it who has no clue?”
