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Iowa Rejects Video Privacy Protection For Cows
Hugh Pickens writes "The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that an effort to outlaw the undercover recording of animal abuse in livestock operations appears to have stalled in Iowa after previously failing in Minnesota, Florida and New York, with the pushback coming from citizens and activists complaining that the proposals were aimed at protecting an industry that doesn't exhibit enough concern for farm animal welfare. A bill introduced earlier this year to criminalize the actions of activists who make unauthorized hidden videos of animal abuse appeared to be headed for approval in the Iowa Legislature, with proposed penalties including fines of up to $7,500 and up to five years in prison. 'I feel it is wrong to absolutely lie to get a job to try to defame the employer,' says Iowa representative Annette Sweeney, a farmer and Republican legislator who sponsored the bill. But District Attorney James R. Horton, who filed animal cruelty charges against employees and the owner of a large-scale calf-raising farm, says he probably 'wouldn't have a case' if not for covert video provided by an animal protection group, and that 'we wouldn't have anything' in terms of evidence against the suspects in the beating deaths of dairy calves at E6 Cattle Co."
I wonder though - if they have good video evidence. Is it really defamation ?
... do we try to enact privacy laws for cows, all the while emasculating or eliminating entirely the privacy laws for humans. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U...
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
... are the US's sacred cows.
Iowa already has defamation laws. So if it really were defamation, they could already sue the activists. They don't need any new laws.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
Does stabbing them with pitch-forks and gouging out their eyes help the meat taste better? What about when they slaughter cows that are too sick to walk? Yummy! The crap documented on these farms isn't just slapping a few cows around. It would shock any meat-eater and these activists are doing excellent work.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
Unlike you I have actually raised and slaughtered my own food. They may be food but you don't have to be cruel to them and make them miserable. Beating them to death? Really? Wtf is wrong with you? I waste extra shells to headshot any hunted animal after bringing it down to make sure it doesn't needlessly suffer, a lot of people do that.
Humanely killing animals is both cheap and easy, there is pretty much no excuse for the behavior you're advocating.
Trying to outlaw this kind of undercover journalism, would in my view be to undermine democracy.In my humble view, this kind of legislation heads the road to FASCISM. There is a couple of other words for it, but this one fit well enough. /T
Warning: This sig contains a small bug. ==> *
Doesn't matter. We don't have to rip apart still living creatures to feed ourselves, I think that alone justifies the notion that if we're going to eat meat that we at least have the decency to treat it with some modicum of respect. I don't think that torturing animals makes them healthier to eat or more delicious.
The farms don't want the cruelty investigations to stop.
They just want it restricted to bona fide undercover police agents whose political bosses are easier to bribe.
Fraud is already illegal. If it was really fraud, they could use that law too. All these people are doing is video-taping a farm. If the activists destroyed property, exposed trade-secrets, or were causing a national security concern, then it's fine to criminalize it. But here, the conceptually no different than a farm worker who goes home and tells his wife and a few friends about the horrible things he saw. The only difference is that these activists can tell many more people.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
I hate to sound "pro-rape" here, but a contract is a willing agreement between 2 people. Do you want the government worming its way in the middle, even with the best of intentions?
So, you're down with rape as well as (for instance) slavery. Why not just go whole-hog and move to Somalia? I promise the government won't interfere with your contracts there.
How did this post get modded up so much? It's garbage.
Let's see actual evidence of multiple accounts of this type of fraud.
Some guy on the internet saying that most of the videos are staged is highly suspect and unlikely. As the saying goes: remarkable claims require remarkable evidence.
Perhaps there have been some unscrupulous filming incidents, but it's unlikely very many are guilty of this, given all it takes is the worker to say 'well, they got me to stage this'. On the flip side, there are many accounts of workers describing the processes and they're not far from what's routinely filmed. And given that many of these films are made to use in court, this would be particularly counter-productive.