LA LOI AG GAG, OU EN EST ON???

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   ETAT PAR ETAT AUX USA
PAS VRAIMENT DE PROGRES


Undercover investigations at farms and slaughterhouses across the country have repeatedly uncovered the dark underside of agribusiness: the abusive treatment of billions of animals.
In response to these revelations, agribusiness and corporate, and industry interests have pushed hard for what are known as “Ag-Gag” laws. Such laws “gag” would-be whistleblowers and undercover activists by making it illegal to record and disseminate photographs or footage taken in agricultural operations.
Eight states — Kansas, North Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Utah, Missouri, Idaho, and North Carolina — have passed “Ag-Gag” laws. In addition, Wyoming passed two laws that are not Ag-Gag per se but effectively criminalizes undercover recording operations.
Such laws aim to hide the suffering of billions of animals on industrial farms, but they also allow farms to hide other activities that jeopardize food safety, workers’ rights, and environmental protections.

Farmed Animals are Largely Unprotected

Despite their vast numbers, and the severity of abuse they suffer, the U.S. legal system gives farmed animals only minimal protections:

• There are no federal laws governing the conditions in which farmed animals are raised.

• The majority of farmed animal suffering is exempt from state criminal anti-cruelty  laws.

• Many state anti-cruelty laws exempt “standard” or “commonly accepted” agricultural practices as defined by the industry, including crating baby cows, confining hens in battery cages, cutting off the beaks of chicks with a hot knife and no anesthesia, and a host of other inherently cruel, but common, industrial practices.

Fighting Back in Court — and Winning

Animal advocates, led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and joined by consumer rights, food safety, civil liberties, and whistleblower protection organizations, are successfully challenging Ag-Gag laws in the courts.