Posted February 17, 2014
On Friday, the Idaho Senate voted 23-10 for a bill that would make it a crime to interfere with agricultural production, according to an AgWeb article available here.
Senate Bill 1337, available here, would make it a crime to record agricultural operations without permission, punishable by up to a year in jail and fines up to $5,000. The bill now heads to the House.
The bill stems from a 2012 incident at Idaho’s Bettencourt Dairy where individuals from the group Mercy for Animals recorded images of workers “caning, beating and stomping on cows.”
Sen. Jim Patrick, sponsor of the bill argued that the state’s food security is at stake, saying, “We as a nation are at risk of losing a lot of our food to terrorism.” Others say dairy owners should be able to expect workers are not “lying on their job applications.”
Sen. Todd Lakey says that whistleblowers can still report abuse to the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Lakey said, “It does not limit constitutionally protected speech. To me, it comes down to private property rights.”
On the other hand, Idaho and national representatives of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) say the bill would hinder First Amendment rights and allow animal abuse to continue unreported, according to a Capital Press article available here.
Matthew Dominguez, HSUS’ national public policy manager, said the bill would jeopardize food safety, workers’ rights and animal welfare. Dominguez said, “It’s the only way we can ensure those types of things come to light in the future.”
For more information on animal welfare, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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