This October, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 135 (S.B. 135) to create a statewide ban on the tail docking of dairy cows, and the law will take effect on January 1, 2010. (S.B. 135) was first introduced in early 2009 by California Senate Majority Leader Senator Dean Florez and was passed by both the California State Senate and the Assembly by significant margins.

The California dairy industry is already at the forefront of eradicating this practice, with only 10 percent of farms participating in tail docking on some level, according to a recent University of California study.  The California dairy industry is in full support of the new tail docking ban and animal welfare practices.  For more information on the California dairy industry's animal welfare practices, please view the Cow Comfort video atwww.RealCaliforniaMilk.com/HappyCows.