In October, a federal inspector at a Coldwater, Michigan pork plant documented an employee forcefully striking a hog on the head with a paddle during unloading. It's the second time in three years that a similar incident has been reported at the same facility. And both times, criminal charges have been out of reach — not because Michigan doesn't care about animal cruelty, but because of a loophole in state law that effectively shields it.

Michigan's animal cruelty statute, MCL 750.50b, does cover livestock. But Section 14 of that law creates a broad exemption: it does not apply to "a customary animal husbandry or farming practice involving livestock." In plain language, that means if an abusive act can be labeled a routine farming practice, it may be protected from prosecution. Federal enforcement at slaughterhouses carries no criminal penalties either — leaving animals with no meaningful legal protection at all.

Cruelty is cruelty, whether the victim is a dog or a hog. The law should reflect that. An exemption broad enough to shield a worker who beats an animal during handling isn't protecting farmers — it's protecting abuse.

We urge the Michigan Legislature, including the Agriculture Committees in both the House and Senate, to amend Section 14 of MCL 750.50b to narrow the "customary farming practice" exemption — so that it cannot be used to shield deliberate acts of cruelty from prosecution. We call on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to support that effort.

Farmers who treat animals humanely have nothing to fear from this change. Those who don't should not be able to hide behind it.