“If the conditions in which we raise animals for slaughter are so awful they can’t be seen, then they should be reformed, not hidden by the force of the state.” (Ezra Klein, January 4, 2019)
“We should be allowed to see how our food is made. We should be able to bear seeing how our food is made.” (Ezra Klein, January 4, 2019)
What is Ag-Gag?
How To Fight Ag-Gag Laws
The Problem
Today billions and billions of farm animals experience unimaginably cruel conditions every day—they are raised in strict confinement where they cannot move, their bodily parts are amputated in order to live in overcrowded conditions, many are sick, diseased and dying, they can’t express their natural behaviors, they receive no medical or veterinary care, they are psychologically tormented every day by their restrictive, cruel conditions, and on top of all of this—workers beat them, terrorize them, abuse them and kill them violently. The horrors that animals today are exposed to and experience in industrial animal farming are unconscionable. But instead of fixing the systemic inhumane problems—farmers and state legislators seek to silence whistleblowers and undercover investigative reporters who try to expose the truth to the public about animals raised for food.
How Ag-Gag Laws Started
Ag-gag laws were started as a result of undercover investigations by employees who recorded and documented farm employees—smashing and killing piglets on concrete floors at Iowa Select Farms; beating pigs with metal rods and sticking clothespins in pig’s eyes and faces at Iowa Hormel Foods; kicking and beating dairy cows on dairy farms; beating downer cows who could no longer walk into the transport on dairy farms, and the list goes on. These undercover reporters, journalists, and investigators exposed these illegal and horrifically cruel practices, which caused Iowa legislators (the first ag-gag state in 2011) to pass a law banning the collection of evidence of cruelty and crimes like these. The intent of ag-gag laws is to criminalize whistleblowers and undercover investigators who expose animal cruelty and abuse on farms. Animal agriculture recognized that this footage and photography would outrage many and most Americans, so they have used “ag-gag” to literally gag investigators, reporters and journalists from reporting and exposing what actually happens on farms and in animal agriculture every day. Many ag-gag laws also include silencing and criminalizing the reporting and exposure of cruel and inhumane practices at other facilities including hospitals, elder care facilities, veteran care facilities, schools and private businesses.
How Ag-Gag Laws Are Harmful
Not only are ag-gag laws harmful to animals by preventing the truth from being exposed, they are harmful to people and our First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. First, the ability to investigate, document, and publicize corporate animal agriculture’s dangerous and violent cruelty is imperative both to the well-being of billions of farm animals who are cruelly raised for food—as well as to the public who has the right to know the truth about unethical industry practices, for their own personal health, food safety, environmental issues, and access to know the facts about the food they eat.
But industrial farms, factory farms, CAFOs, and animal agriculture want to keep their cruel, abusive practices and systemic violence hidden from the public. Animal agriculture in the U.S. jeopardizes food safety, workers’ rights, environmental standards, animal rights, community rights, property rights, and causes billions of animals to suffer every single day. People have the right to know and they want to know the truth.
Ag-Gag Laws are the Wrong Solution
“For as long as farmers have put food on American tables, the government has endeavored to support and protect the agricultural industry.” ~ Judge Robert J. Shelby
The York Times Editorial Board wrote in 2013 that ag-gag laws have nothing to do with protecting property, but rather their purpose is to hide the details of factory farming from consumers. They wrote: “The ag-gag laws guarantee one thing for certain: increased distrust of American farmers and our food supply in general. They are exactly the wrong solution to a problem entirely of big agriculture’s own making. Instead of ag-gag laws, we need laws that impose basic standards on farm conditions and guarantee our right to know how our food is being produced.” (New York Times, Eating With Our Eyes Closed, April 10, 2014)
The Success of Undercover Investigations into Animal Agriculture
Not only have undercover investigations exposed the horrific treatment, abuse, and cruelty of animals on farms, they have revealed the cruel standards that animal agriculture is using to house animals—gestation crates for pigs that are too small for them to turn-around or lie down; farrowing crates for sows so small and restrictive they cannot stand up and are forced to lie down on their side for weeks at a time; sick and downed cows dragged on the ground and into trucks by tractors because they cannot stand up any longer from too many pregnancies; chickens violently treated by the millions with workers abusively injuring and killing them; dairy cows being kicked, sprayed with powerful hoses and painfully prodded with electric prods to get them to move that can no longer stand up and walk; and the exposure of antibiotic resistant “superbugs,” ammonia and “pink slime” hamburgers; and chickens abandoned by farmers by the tens of thousands left to starve to death across farms in the U.S.
When Ag-Gag Laws Started
Ag-gag laws are a very recent trend. Since 2011, 25 U.S. states have introduced ag-gag legislation. Seven of those states have passed some form of ag-gag law. Iowa was the first state to pass a post-2011 ag-gag law, creating a new class of crime called “agricultural operation interference,” which placed a complete ban on recording images or sound at an industrialized farming operation and criminalized applying for employment under false pretenses. Utah, Wyoming, Missouri, Idaho, and North Carolina have since followed, passing their own forms of ag-gag laws. (Animal Legal & Historical Center, 2015)
It is because the animal agriculture industry is rampant with maliciously cruel workers, routine animal cruelty, routinely cruel practices, systemic problems, horrific animal welfare practices, zero health and medical care for animals, very little to no regulatory oversight, and almost zero government regulation—that these investigations are necessary as they depict the truth in animal agriculture and farming. Ag-gag laws keep atrocities done to animals hidden behind closed doors. Exactly what these farm owners and state legislators want.
Ag-Gag Laws Defined
Ag-gag laws, also known as “agricultural interference/fraud” laws, are laws designed to prohibit recording or undercover investigations at industrialized farming operations (commonly known as factory farms). Modern ag-gag laws have their roots in the “ecoterrorism laws” of the early 1990s, but in recent years, there has been a clear shift in priority away from preventing trespassing and property destruction to controlling and stopping recording on industrialized farming operations. This shift is in large part due to the increased prevalence of undercover investigations by animal protection organizations at industrialized farming operations. Over the past few years, numerous investigations have exposed widespread animal abuse and legal violations at various farming operations that have led to economic harm and prosecutions. In some cases, the economic losses are so extreme that industrialized farming operations have gone bankrupt and completely shut down as a result. So, many legislators have introduced ag-gag bills claiming that they will protect well-intentioned farm owners from deceitful or misleading investigations and subsequent dissemination of recordings to the media. Opponents of the bills argue, however, that the true purpose is to prevent whistleblowers from exposing animal abuse and cruelty and public safety violations that occur at industrialized farming operations. (Animal Legal & Historical Center, 2015)
VIDEO: Criminalizing Compassion: How Ag-Gag Legislation Lets Corporations Set the Laws of the Land (The Nation)
VIDEO: Ag-Gag Legislation, The First Amendment and Animal Agriculture (Duke University School of Law)
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Share Videos on Social Media – Since Ag-Gag is about “silencing” us—share the truth, ask friends to support fighting ag-gag laws. Share these videos on social media or these videos that are not as gruesome.
- Boycott Ag-Gag – Don’t buy animal products or food made from animals. Don’t support animal agriculture. Cut out all meat, dairy and eggs. Buy only local produce.
- Contact Your State Representatives – Tell your state legislators (Senators, House Reps and Governors) how ag-gag laws are offensive and you are against them. Send emails, make phone calls and schedule a meeting in person to discuss your concerns. Find your legislators here.
- Sign Petitions – Join others signing petitions to stop these laws. Sign Farm Forwards’ Petition.
- Start Your Own Campaign – Launch your own personal campaign against Ag-Gag Laws, even if they are not in your state. See the Food Integrity Campaign for ideas.
- Download Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Factory Farms & Ag-Gag Laws brochure – share it with others!
- Support Animal Rights Nonprofits Fighting for Animals – These nonprofits are on the front lines fighting against ag-gag laws and fighting for animals: PETA, ASPCA, Mercy For Animals, Humane Society of the United States, and Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Three Types of Ag-Gag Laws
- Agricultural Interference Laws – Prohibit recording images or sounds at industrialized farming operations without consent of the owner;
- Agricultural Fraud Laws – Prohibit obtaining access to, or applying for a job at industrialized farming operations by false premises or misrepresentation;
- Rapid-Reporting Laws – Require anyone who records images or sounds at an industrialized farming operation to turn the recordings over to law enforcement within a designated period of time, usually 24-48 hours. (Animal Legal & Historical Center, 2015)
Violation of these laws results in either civil or criminal punishment, depending on the state. Fines range from $500 to $5000 per day that the violation of the law was committed.
Other states have related statutes that are sometimes called “eco-terrorism” or “animal enterprise interference” laws. View this chart – to see if your state currently has any kind of farm-related, anti-whistleblower law on the books.
Ag-Gag Legislation by State
(Source: ASPCA – What is Ag-Gag Legislation)
Alabama – Passed an ag-gag law in 2002. It makes it illegal to obtain access to property “by false pretenses” and to possess records obtained by deception. Ag Gag Litigation Pending.
Arizona – Introduced H.B. 2587 in 2014. Failed.
Arkansas– Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed. Passed an ag-gag law in 2017 that created a civil cause of action allowing businesses to sue whistleblowers who expose abuses happening on their farms/businesses. Ag Gag Litigation Pending.
California – Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed.
Colorado– Introduced S. 42 – in 2015 to require reporting of cruelty within 48 hours. This “quick-reporting” bill would prevent the collection of adequate evidence to show patterns of abuse, neglect or abandonment, potentially hindering prosecution of abusers. Bill tabled in February by its sponsor.
Florida – Introduced legislation in 2012. Failed.
Idaho – Passed an ag-gag law in 2014, which in August 2015 was struck down by the Idaho District Court as unconstitutional.
Illinois – Introduced legislation in 2012. Failed.
Indiana– Introduced legislation in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Bills failed in 2012 and 2013. Introduced S.B. 101 – in 2014 which was later stripped of ag-gag-type provisions. Failed.
Iowa – Passed an ag-gag law – in March 2012 that criminalizes providing false information on an employment application with the intent to record images. In January 2019, the U.S. District Court of Southern District of Iowa struck down the law as unconstitutional. Passed a new ag-gag law in March 2019 that criminalizes using deception to gain access to an agricultural production facility with the intent to cause harm to the business. Ag Gag Litigation Pending.
Kansas – Passed the Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act – in 1990. It criminalizes “enter(ing) an animal facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera or by any other means” with the intent of causing harm to the enterprise. Lawsuit filed in December 2018 challenging constitutionality of law. Ag Gag Litigation Pending.
Kentucky – Added an ag-gag provision to a pro-animal bill in 2014. Bill died.
Minnesota – Introduced legislation in 2011 and 2012. Failed.
Missouri – Passed an ag-gag law – in July 2012. Mandates that evidence of animal abuse must be turned over to law enforcement within 24 hours, preventing the collection of adequate evidence to show patterns of abuse, neglect or abandonment, and potentially hindering prosecution of abusers.
Montana – Passed an ag-gag law – in 1991. It criminalizes “entering an animal facility with the intent to commit a prohibited act, entering an animal facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera, or other means with the intent to commit criminal defamation, and entering an animal facility if the person knows entry is forbidden.” Introduced a quick-reporting bill in 2015 providing that “a person who knowingly fails to report evidence of cruelty to animals at an animal facility within 24 hours commits the offense of cruelty to animals.” The ASPCA opposes quick-reporting bills. Bill died.
Nebraska – Introduced legislation in 2012 and 2013. Failed.
New Hampshire – Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed. Reintroduced H.B. 110 in 2014. Bill died.
New Mexico – Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed. Introduced a quick-reporting bill in 2015 to make failure to turn over evidence of animal abuse within 24 hours of collection a misdemeanor. Failed. Also introduced S.B. 167 in 2017 to make using drones to conduct surveillance of a farm illegal. Failed.
New York – Introduced legislation in 2011 and 2012. Failed.
North Carolina – Introduced legislation in 2013 and 2014. Failed. In 2015, ag-gag bill H.B. 405 passed and was vetoed by Governor McCrory, but the NC House and Senate overturned the veto. H.B. 405 went into effect on January 1, 2016. The law prohibits anyone from gaining access to the non-public area of their employer’s property for the purpose of making secret recordings or removing data or other material. The law creates a civil cause of action, allowing a business to sue for damages. In February 2016, the ASPCA joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of H.B. 405. Ag Gag Litigation Pending.
North Dakota – Passed the Animal Research Facility Damage Act, which makes it a class B misdemeanor to “[enter] an animal facility and using or attempting to use a camera, video recorder, or any other video or audio recording equipment.”
Pennsylvania– Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed.
Tennessee– Introduced legislation in 2013, which was passed by Legislature but vetoed by Governor. Introduced legislation again in 2014, which failed. H.B. 1838, introduced in January 2016, prohibiting anyone from gaining access to the non-public area of their employer’s property for the purpose of making secret recordings or removing data or other material. Failed.
Texas – Passed H.B. 1643 in June 2017, which makes it illegal to use a drone to take photos over a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO).
Utah – Passed an ag-gag law-in March 2012 criminalizing numerous actions related to accessing and recording agricultural operations. In July 2017, the U.S. District Court of Utah struck down the law as unconstitutional.
Vermont – Introduced legislation in 2013. Failed.
Washington – Introduced legislation in 2015 to create the crime of “interference with agriculture production” and classifies it as a gross misdemeanor with maximum penalties of one year in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both. Failed.
West Virginia – Introduced legislation in 2019 to prohibit access to “nonpublic areas” for reasons other than intent to perform authorized work, including capturing photographs and videos or removing other data or documents. The bill would create a civil cause of action, allowing businesses to sue for damages.
Wyoming– Introduced legislation in 2013, which failed. Introduced S.F. 12 in 2015 to criminalize collection of “resource data” (including photos and video) on private land and prohibit it from being used as evidence in criminal trials. Governor Mead signed S.F. 12 into law in March. A 2016 revision to this law seems to indicate that it is not targeting animal cruelty investigations. In September 2017, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the law as unconstitutional. (Source: ASPCA – What is Ag-Gag Legislation)
Courts Fighting Against Ag-Gag Laws, Fighting for the First Amendment
(Source: Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), Ag-Gag Laws)
- September 3, 2019
The Animal Legal Defense Fund and coalition file a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s Ag-Gag law.
- June 25, 2019
The Animal Legal Defense Fund and coalition file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas’ Ag-Gag law, a law that prohibits undercover investigations that expose abuses at factory farms and other businesses throughout the state. April 22, 2019 A coalition of public interest groups, led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, challenging the constitutionality of Iowa’s new Ag-Gag law — a law substantively similar to the Iowa law struck down earlier in 2019.
- February 15, 2019
The Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa issues a judgment declaring Iowa Code §717A.3A (the Iowa Ag-Gag statute) unconstitutional and enjoined in its entirety. The judgment prohibits the state from enforcing the law.
- January 9, 2019
The Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa rules Iowa’s Ag-Gag law unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment.
- December 4, 2018
A coalition of public interest groups filed a lawsuit in Kansas challenging the constitutionality of the state’s Ag-Gag law, which makes it a crime to document animal cruelty at factory farms and slaughterhouses.
- June 5, 2018
The Fourth United States Circuit Court of Appeals reverses Judge Schroeder’s decision and reinstates the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of North Carolina’s Ag-Gag law.
- January 4, 2018
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit becomes the first federal appellate court to strike down provisions of an Ag-Gag law, holding that Idaho’s ban on recording conditions at factory farms and slaughterhouses violates the First Amendment.
- October 10, 2017
The Animal Legal Defense Fund and coalition file a brief in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, challenging Iowa’s Ag-Gag law on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
- July 7, 2017
The U.S. District Court of Utah declares Utah’s Ag-Gag statute unconstitutional.
- May 31, 2016
The Animal Legal Defense Fund, PETA, and Salt Lake City resident Amy Meyer, file a motion for summary judgment in their challenge to Utah’s notorious Ag-Gag law, seeking to have the law formally struck down as unconstitutional.
- August 3, 2015
Idaho Ag-Gag law ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
- March 17, 2014
Animal Legal Defense Fund and coalition file Ag-Gag lawsuit against the state of Idaho.
- July 22, 2013
Animal Legal Defense Fund and coalition file the nation’s first Ag-Gag lawsuit, against the state of Utah.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Share Videos on Social Media – Since Ag-Gag is about “silencing” us—share the truth, ask friends to support fighting ag-gag laws. Share these videos on social media or these videos that are not as gruesome.
- Boycott Ag-Gag – Don’t buy animal products or food made from animals. Don’t support animal agriculture. Cut out all meat, dairy and eggs. Buy only local produce.
- Contact Your State Representatives – Tell your state legislators (Senators, House Reps and Governors) how ag-gag laws are offensive and you are against them. Send emails, make phone calls and schedule a meeting in person to discuss your concerns. Find your legislators here.
- Sign Petitions – Join others signing petitions to stop these laws. Sign Farm Forwards’ Petition.
- Start Your Own Campaign – Launch your own personal campaign against Ag-Gag Laws, even if they are not in your state. See the Food Integrity Campaign for ideas.
- Download Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Factory Farms & Ag-Gag Laws brochure – share it with others!
- Support Animal Rights Nonprofits Fighting for Animals – These nonprofits are on the front lines fighting against ag-gag laws and fighting for animals: PETA, ASPCA, Mercy For Animals, Humane Society of the United States, and Animal Legal Defense Fund.
