Fight against factory farms finds new home in Arizona

Published: 2006-07-18

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Fighting against factory farms has been a passion for Abby Glackin since college. As a Catholic, she has felt frustration in the past with the church because of the lack of attention many churchgoers, priests and religious have given to animal rights and environmental issues. But these days she's feeling better about the church's response to the issue after her involvement in a signature-gathering drive for the Arizonans for Humane Farms citizen initiative. The measure would "outlaw the cruel and intensive confinement of pregnant pigs and veal calves on industrialized factory farms," according to the group's Web site. She met with her pastor, Father Albert Francis Hoorman of Corpus Christi Parish in Phoenix, about the possibility of gathering signatures. Father Hoorman not only allowed Glackin to collect signatures after Masses, but he also encouraged parishioners to sign the petition. Glackin got more than 300 signatures from Corpus Christi parishioners alone. Supporters gathered 218,000 signatures -- only 120,000 were required -- to secure a spot on the November ballot.

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