American Veal Association votes to phase out crating

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007:

WASHINGTON D.C.–With U.S. veal consumption now less than
half of what it was in 1980, a third of what it was in 1970, a
fifth of what it was in 1960, and a sixth of the peak circa 1950,
the American Veal Association board of directors on May 9, 2007
voted unanimously to phase out crating calves by 2017–but their
decision did not reach the public until the Humane Society of the
U.S. and PETA claimed victory in early August 2007 press releases,
while urging faster action.
The American Veal Association resolution mentioned that
“industry must always be aware and mindful of consumer concerns,”
and that “group housing was imposed legislatively” in Europe in the
mid-1990s.
Introduced to the U.S. from the Netherlands soon after World
War II, veal crating was almost immediately criticized as inhumane
by both animal advocates and farmers using traditional woodlot
pasturing and group housing to fatten calves for early slaughter.
Intensive campaigning against veal crating, however, was introduced
by the Farm Animal Reform Movement and the Humane Farming Association
in the mid-1980s. FARM has organized annual Mother’s Day protests
against veal crating for more than 20 years, while HFA has placed
versions of ads similar to the one on page 5 of this edition of
ANIMAL PEOPLE in national news magazines during the holiday seasons
that mark the traditional peaks of veal consumption.