The intent is to silence whistleblowers and those that would expose animal welfare abuses.
Activists with Direct Action Everywhere captured a photo of an
overcrowded pig farm owned by Iowa Sen. Ken Rozenboom. Photo:
Direct Action
Everywhere
IN THE MIDST of uprisings against police brutality across the U.S., Iowa
legislators quietly passed a bill on Friday to increase penalties for animal
rights activism that has targeted the factory farming industry. Debates in
both the state House and Senate were followed rapidly by votes in favor of
the legislation. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature.
“The intent is to silence whistleblowers and those that would expose animal
welfare abuses,” said Adam Mason, the state policy director for Iowa
Citizens for Community Improvement, which has fought two previous ag-gag
laws in Iowa courts.
The latest bill would create a new crime, “food operation trespass,” for
anyone who enters a location without permission where a “food animal” is
kept or where meat is sold or processed. Animal rights activists have
repeatedly published damning footage of Iowa farms that reveals sick or
wounded animals and overcrowded conditions. In some cases, such footage has
been captured via undercover investigations in which an activist obtains a
job at a factory farm; in others, activists have entered properties
surreptitiously to film poor conditions....
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