Marin County Slaughterhouse Ban in Jeopardy!

URGENT: Attend the Meeting This Monday

The fateful decision about whether to allow slaughterhouses to operate in Marin County hangs in the balance. This Monday (January 23rd), the Marin County Planning Commission is hosting a meeting where deciding votes are expected to be cast on lifting Marin County’s slaughterhouse ban.

This is a critical opportunity for residents and concerned San Francisco Bay Area citizens to speak up on behalf of countless animals who cannot — but we must also be strategic and tactful. Our best defense in this meeting will be driving home shared community concerns which non-animal advocates will readily back such as the risk of increasing crime rates, plummeting property values, and pollution.

Melissa Flower from In Defense of Animals will be attending this meeting to represent our California supporters. However, we absolutely need strength in numbers, so your appearance is very much needed. Without strong community resistance, we run risk of this ban being lifted.

What You Can Do:

Attend the community meeting on Monday, January 23rd and speak out!

Date: Monday, January 23rd, at 11:00 am
Location: Civic Center in San Rafael: 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 328.

Important tip: prepare your talking points or script ahead of time, and bring it with you. Members of the public typically get three minutes to speak. While preparing your points to bring up, please keep in mind that this particular ruling will specifically concern on-farm slaughter of poultry and rabbits, the use of mobile slaughter units for larger animals, and permanently-sited slaughterhouses.

Here are some (strategic) key points shared by the Citizens Against Marin Slaughter which you may wish to bring up:

-Slaughter operations create terrible noise and odor pollution.

Revenue from Marin County animal agriculture is growing rapidly, outpacing other industries. It is harmful to the economic, environmental, and quality of life interests of over 99% of the general population and taxpayers.

-Slaughter operations plummet property values and will adversely affect tourism.

-Slaughter employment raises crime.

-Slaughter operations do not create a family friendly nor enriched environment.

-Slaughter operations are among the top polluters of water.

-Slaughter operations use excessive water -- California struggles with drought.

-Slaughter operations fragment farmland and ecosystems.

If you are unable to attend, we highly encourage you to email Jeremy Tejirian from the
Marin Community Development Agency at JTejirian@marincounty.org to express your concerns.

To our fellow advocates in Marin county, we hope you can make it!

For further information on the Marin Planning Commission meeting, please click here.