IA HF 589—Bill to Criminalize Exposure of Animal Abuse
Sponsors: Agriculture Committees
ASPCA Position: Oppose
Action Needed: None at this time.
Update—March 5, 2012: Iowa’s ag-gag bill has passed the General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Terry Branstad on Friday, March 2. Whistleblowers do a public service and should be applauded, not jailed. Rather than putting so much effort into covering up abuse, the farm community should support efforts to end and prevent animal suffering. This new statute only reinforces the idea that Iowa’s farms have something to hide.
Iowa’s “ag-gag” bill would help agribusiness hide animal abuse instead of working to prevent such mistreatment. Please let Governor Branstad know that you object to the passage of this bill.
This dangerous bill is aimed at preventing investigations on farms that expose inhumane and cruel treatment of animals. Its passage was pushed by big agricultural interests—undercover investigations have exposed terrible cruelty that they seem to want to cover up. Rather than stop cruel treatment of animals, this bill will help ensure that the public never learns about it.
A broad spectrum of groups representing environmental, workers’ rights, civil liberties, public health and food safety interests have joined animal protection organizations in opposing these bills. A poll commissioned by the ASPCA reveals that a wide majority of Americans say animals raised for food on farms deserve to be free from abuse and cruelty and oppose ag-gag efforts to suppress farm investigations.
