Earlier
this year, a federal judge struck down Idaho’s controversial ag-gag law, which
made it illegal to take pictures or videos to expose animal abuse on factory
farms. The judge asserted that the law clearly violated the First Amendment and
only served to shield the powerful factory farming industry from public
scrutiny.
But rather
than refocusing efforts to pass laws actually supported by the people and the
Constitution, such as strengthening legal protections for farmed animals, the
Idaho attorney general has announced his decision to waste taxpayer money by
appealing the
court’s ruling in an attempt to reinstate this dangerous ag-gag law.
Idaho’s
ag-gag law is a threat because it fosters unchecked animal abuse and other
crimes at agricultural facilities. In addition to endangering workers’ rights
and consumer health and safety, ag-gag restricts the freedom of journalists,
employees, and the public at large to share information about something as
fundamental as our food supply.
We need
more, not less, transparency
in food production. And animals suffering on factory farms deserve to have
their stories told.
Undercover
investigations by Mercy For Animals and other groups have led to
landmark corporate animal welfare policy reforms, new and improved laws to
protect farmed animals and the environment, felony convictions of animal
abusers, increased consumer protection and food safety initiatives, and the
closure of particularly corrupt facilities.
Idaho’s
taxpayers have a right to know how their food is produced and how animals at
the state’s factory farms are abused. The clear intent of the ag-gag law is to
silence critics of the highly influential farming industry and keep Idaho’s
immoral and abusive factory farming practices hidden from public view.
Despite
Idaho lawmakers’ misguided and unscrupulous actions, we are confident that the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will uphold the district court’s ruling that
Idaho’s ag-gag law is unconstitutional.