 |
by Cody Carlson - July 7, 2017 |
Think people
have a right to know how animals are treated at factory farms? Well, the
Constitution agrees!
OUI, LE CONSOMMATEUR A LE DROIT DE SAVOIR COMMENT LA NOURRITURE EST PRODUITE ET COMMENT LES BÊTES SONT TRAITÉES DANS LES ÉLEVAGES ET A L' ABATTOIR
In a huge
victory for animal and free speech advocates, a federal judge just declared
Utah’s “ag-gag” law unconstitutional. Writing for the District Court of Utah, Judge Robert Shelby criticized the law for “[s]uppressing broad swaths of protected speech without
justification”
and upheld the right of groups like Mercy For Animals to continue going
undercover and exposing abuse at factory farms in the state. This is the second
ag-gag law to be found unconstitutional by a federal court after being
challenged by PETA, ALDF, and citizens.
MFA applauds
Judge Shelby for standing up for human and animal rights. We are thrilled to
see the court uphold fundamental constitutional guarantees. The public has a
right to know how its food is produced and how animals at factory farms and
slaughterhouses are treated. The factory farming industry needs more
transparency, not less.
In 2011, the
factory farming industry started pushing for ag-gag laws designed to prevent
animal protection groups from exposing animal abuse and other crimes at their
facilities in dozens of states. Most of these bills were defeated, but a
handful of states passed them into law. With the laws in Idaho and now Utah overturned,
only ag-gag laws in Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and North Carolina remain on the
books. Today’s unambiguous ruling, however, may spell the end of the ag-gag era
once and for all!
Meanwhile, undercover
investigations by MFA and other groups continue to
spur groundbreaking corporate animal welfare policy changes, new and improved laws to protect farmed animals
and consumers, felony and misdemeanor convictions of animal abusers, and the closure of especially corrupt animal facilities.
MFA is committed to providing this vital public service for
as long as it is needed, and we are grateful to have our right to do it upheld
today.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire