Minnesota’s ag-gag bill has died
Thank you to all who spoke to your state legislators in opposition to this harmful bill!
May 10, 2012- The bills that would make it a crime to videotape and to show footage shot inside puppy and kitten mills and factory farm (SF 1118/HF 1369) were introduced in April 2011. The bills encountered stiff opposition from the media, the public, and many animal advocacy organizations, and did not advance during the 2011-2012 biennium. Read more here.
Also called Minnesota’s ‘ag-gag’ bills, the proposed legislation would criminalize anyone blowing the whistle on animal cruelty, food safety problems, or labor abuses inside puppy mills or factory farms by making it a crime to take video inside such facilities, or even for the news media to possess or distribute images of such abuses. Similar bills have been introduced in other states, and in 2012 both Iowa and Utah passed ag-gag laws.
– Read more about the bills and take action here. –
Below is media coverage from MN and around the country
May 1, 2012: Food Safety News: Missouri May Be Moving Forward With ‘Ag-Gag’
April 12, 2012: TriState Neighbor: Utah lawmakers follow Iowa, pass ‘ag-gag’ law
March 26, 2012: Food Safety News: Five States Now Have ‘Ag-Gag’ Laws on the Books
March 12, 2012: Chicago Tribune: ‘Ag gag’ bill stuffed in Illinois
March 3, 2012: Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: Utah’s misguided ‘ag gag’ bill
March 1, 2012: Food Safety News: Iowa Approves Nation’s First ‘Ag-Gag’ Law
January 29, 2012: Chicago Tribune: Iowa and Nebraska target hidden-camera farm videos
January 25, 2012: Tampa Bay Times: Lawmakers kill “Ag-Gag” proposals
July 31, 2011: Bluestem Prairie: Hamilton on “Ag-gag” bill: whistleblowers taping animal abuse ‘just as guilty’ of abuse as abuser
July 5, 2011: New York Times: Banned from the Barn
May 27, 2011: Grist: ‘Ag-gag’ bills face tough row to hoe
May 13, 2011: New York Times: Preventing Cruelty on the Farm- Room for Debate
May 9, 2011: Star Tribune Letters to the Editor: Minnesota Pork Producers, ‘We’re against deceit and for transparency’
May 5, 2011: New York Times: State Legislatures Take Up Bills Barring Undercover Videos of Confined Animal Feeding Operations
May 3, 2011: Star Tribune: Industrial animal agriculture is not a pretty picture
May 3, 2011: The Horse.com: Undercover No More
April 28, 2011: Star Tribune: Calf bashing video raises stakes on MN bill
April 28, 2011: Simple Good and Tasty: Why Don’t Minnesota Lawmakers Want to Talk About Proposed Law Against Videotaping Inside Animal Facilities?
April 27, 2011: The New York Times Opinion: Hiding the Truth About Factory Farms
April 26, 2011: The New York Times Opinion: Who Protects the Animals?
April 19, 2011: The Washington Independent: CNN analysts: Farm-photo bans are unconstitutional, factory farm conditions are ‘America’s secret shame’
April 19, 2011: Star Tribune Opinion: Effort to ban farm videos misguided
April 19, 2011: Rochester Post Bulletin: Banning video cameras is a misguided bill
April 15, 2011: CNN Video: Agriculture industry pushes filming ban
April 15, 2011: Fairmont Sentinel: Exposing animal abuse amounts to petty fraud
April 15, 2011: Fox News: Undercover Animal Abuse Video ‘Terrorism’ Must Stop, Say Ban Proponents
April 15, 2011: City Pages: Daryn McBeth, agribiz lobbyist: People who photograph farms should be felons
April 15, 2011: Bluestem Prairie: Not getting behind it: ag country daily newspapers reject anti-whistleblowing bill
April 15, 2011: Fox 9 News: Debate: Undercover Ban at Animal Facilities in Minnesota
April 14, 2011: New York Times: States Look to Ban Efforts to Reveal Farm Abuse
April 14, 2011: New Ulm Journal: Don’t punish whistleblowers
April 14, 2011: Austin Post Bulletin: Bill would ban filming of Minn. farming operations
April 13, 200: Star Tribune: Free speech vs. food producers’ preference to be left alone
April 12, 2011 WCCO: Bill Would Ban Video of Farming Operations, Puppy Mills
April 12, 2011 Miami Herald/ AP St Paul: Bill would ban filming of Minn. farming operations
April 12, 2011 Minn Post: Now, a bill to prohibit secret videos… of farm animals?
April 12, 2011: Minnesota Public Radio: Bill would ban filming of Minn. farming operations
April 11, 2011 Kare 11: Animal cruelty vs. ag rights debated at state capitol
April 11, 2011 Minn Post: Media Minefield: Undercover cameras have an important role in society
April 11, 2011 The Deets: Hidden Cameras, Puppy Mills, and Pork
April 8, 2011 Star Tribune: Bill would ban video of farming operations
April 8, 2011 The Northern Animal Advocate: Bills Seek to Punish Undercover Investigators
April 6, 2011 Green is the New Red: Minnesota Bill Targets Anyone Who Exposes and ‘Image or Sound’ of Animal Suffering at Factory Farms, Puppy Mills
April 7, 2011: The Florida Independent: Undercover investigation gave us humane slaughter laws
April 7, 2011 Animal Policy Examiner: News media could face prosecution under animal abuse whistleblower bill
March 29, 2011 Green is the New Red: Iowa and Florida Ag- Industry Bills Target Animal Cruelty Investigations
March 25, 2011 CNN Video: Bills would ban undercover farm footage
March 24, 2011 Tampa Bay Online: Lights, camara, cover up?
