State legislators continue to introduce laws to rein in clandestine investigations by animal rights activists. Last year, Iowa passed a bill making it illegal to deny being a member of an animal welfare organization on a farm job application. Utah passed one that outlaws photography.
Bills pending in California, Nebraska, and Tennessee require that anyone collecting evidence of abuse turn it over to law enforcement within 24 to 48 hours. The goal of the proposed California law introduced this week is meant to halt any abuses quickly and to get video evidence to government regulators within two days. In Indiana, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania, it would be a crime to make videos of agricultural operations. The Arkansas bills goes further and would prohibit anyone other than law enforcement from investigating animal cases.
