One more point... to describe how shamefully we treat this issue.

Here in California last year, we had an Initiative that banned same-sex marriage (after our State Supreme Court declared other statues banning it illegal.) It was passed (and is again going through the court system,) in part due to out-of-state funding by various religious groups including apparently, the Church of Latter Day Saints in Utah.

In that same election, another Initiative passed protecting the rights of chickens to have certain cage-size minimums. We fucking seem to care more for food animals than we do for human beings.