US Ag-Gag Laws Can Be Dangerous to Your Health


B. McPherson

 This past week saw prosecutors in Utah first charge, then drop the charges is what is seen as the first attempt to criminalize someone under the little known Ag-Gag laws being enacted in many states. This incident involved a woman who had heard cruelty stories about a slaughterhouse in Draper City. She went to look for herself, remaining on the road allowance, but could clearly see some of the activity. She was repulsed by what she saw, activated the camera on her cell phone and starting recording. The plant manager ordered her to stop and she refused, stating that she was on public land. Cops were called and they backed up the woman. Later she was charged under the Utah legislation that prohibits the filming of animal abuse of farmed animals.

Many of us have seen the videos on PETA’s site of animals in factory farms living in horrendous conditions. Gratuitous violence against animals from chickens to milk cows has been uncovered. Evidence presented of slaughterhouses processing animals too sick to stand, into the human food chain has led to massive recalls of beef. Sometimes change for the better occurs when a strong light is shone onto the floors of the meat, egg, milk factories.

Many of the places operating animal factories are not clean. Cattle in feed lots are often hip deep in their own manure. Pigs may never see the sky in their lifetimes and the filth that the breeding sows must endure before they in turn enter the food chain endangers those who consume their flesh, both from the increased chances of feces from their hide contaminating the meat and from the routine use of antibiotics to fight infections that breed antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Some factory farms ignore or skirt antipollution laws. Think about how much poop a five hundred pound pig will produce in a day and then multiply it by 5 000. That’s quite a disposal problem. While responsible factory operators will respect the environment, those that are not need to be outed.

Yet the very laws being enacted in many US states are protecting the bad actors. Whether we care about animal welfare or not, the Ag-Gag laws endanger the health of the public.

Some people are taking action to try to stop the insidious erosion of food safety in the US. There is a petition started to stop thespread of Ag-Gag laws. If you care about what you eat, you might wish to sign it.

The Humane Society of the United States has come out strongly against the enactment of Ag-Gag laws.

The HSUSA has outlined why these pernicious laws need to be revoked.
“Anti-whistleblower bills effectively block anyone from exposing animal cruelty, food-safety issues, poor working conditions, and more, by way of the following:
 Banning taking a photo or video of a factory farm without permission,
Essentially making it a crime for an investigator to get work at a factory farm, or
Requiring mandatory reporting with impossibly short timelines so that no pattern of abuse can be documented.”
States with Ag-Gag Laws in Effect: Utah, Iowa, Missouri
States with Ag-Gag Laws Pending: Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Tennessee, Wyoming, Vermont. Pennsylvania also makes it a crime to post videos of factory farms on the net.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Oil Pipelines What Lurks Below?

Image
These photos were taken July 2012 in the historic Turner Valley, Alberta B. McPherson Controversy over new oil pipelines is reaching boiling point in many circles. Heated debate is taking place over the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway and Keystone Pipeline proposals. Safety, disruption to landowners  and more are being weighed against the money to be made transporting and selling petroleum products. It got me thinking about the old pipelines. What happens to a pipeline when it is too old to use or not needed? It’s a bit of an Alice in Wonderland scene. The US laws and regulations are different from ours in Canada. The Pipeline and Gas Journal is a source of information about abandoned pipelines in Texas. Apparently a pipeline in Texas may be abandoned by a company, but it still retains ownership and may choose to reactivate the line at a later date. In the meantime, the right of way or easement is no longer maintained, but the through which the pipe extends is not ...
Read more

Prince Rupert Says No to Enbridge Pipeline

Image
B. McPherson Prince Rupert city council joined a growing list of BC coastal communities that are saying “No” to the Enbridge proposal to build a twinned pipeline from Edmonton to the coast. The decision of the Prince Rupert city politicians was unanimous. Already the village of Kitimaat, Terrace and the Skeena Queen Charlottes Regional District have voiced their opposition to the project. There are ongoing hearings by a federal court appointed Joint Review Panel which are gathering input from interested parties about the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline which would bring crude petroleum from the oil sands of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia. The proposal would see a twinned pipeline run over the Rocky Mountains and through wilderness to the treacherous west coast. The proposed terminus at Kitimat would require tankers to wend their way through the maze of islands and reefs to load up at the head of Douglas Channel. While the hearings and the finding...
Read more

Scientists Beginning to Sound Warnings About Atmospheric Nitrogen Compounds

Image
B. McPherson                                                 This short film explains very well the greenhouse effect on Earth. While the world is focussing on the production and release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, other gasses are quietly adding to the catastrophe. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and nitrous oxide is 300 times more efficient at keeping the Earth warmed. While much of the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of the element nitrogen, it is the nitrogen in reactive compounds that is starting to worry atmospheric scientists. The Green Revolution was made possible by the industrial production of chemical fertilizers. It, combined with antibiotics has allowed the Earth’s population of humans to swell from 1.6 billion at the beginning of the 20 th century to seven billion this year. Nitrogen is a key nutrient in plant growth. Unfor...
Read more