Animal Rights

Republican Lawmakers to Ban Undercover Animal-Abuse Videos

While I question whether it’s a smart persuasive technique to thrust animal abuse videos on unsuspecting people who don’t want to see them, it’s a valuable service and it’s worked to stop horrifying animal abuse on countless occasions. But Big Ag and the Republican Party are making sure they protect the abusers:

Now in a pushback led by the meat and poultry industries, state legislators across the country are introducing laws making it harder for animal welfare advocates to investigate cruelty and food safety cases.

Some bills make it illegal to take photographs at a farming operation. Others make it a crime for someone such as an animal welfare advocate to lie on an application to get a job at a plant.

Bills pending in California, Nebraska and Tennessee require that anyone collecting evidence of abuse turn it over to law enforcement within 24 to 48 hours – which advocates say does not allow enough time to document illegal activity under federal humane handling and food safety laws.

“We believe that folks in the agriculture community and folks from some of the humane organizations share the same concerns about animal cruelty,” said Mike Zimmerman, chief of staff for Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, whose bill was unveiled this week.

(h/t Jason Kalafat)