The Problem with Animal Cruelty Videos is that They Get Results!
Most undercover animal cruelty videos are a good idea – they get results. Make yourself happy by looking at these examples –
In Tennessee, an undercover video showed workers dripping caustic chemicals onto the horses’ ankles and clasping metal chains onto the injured tissue. This illegal and excruciating technique, known as “soring,” forces the horse to thrust its front legs forward after every painful step to exaggerate the distinctive high-stepping gait favoured by breeders. The video also showed a worker hitting a horse in the head with a large piece of wood.
What happened? Federal prosecutors in Tennessee charged the horse trainer and other workers, who have pleaded guilty. The video from the Humane Society of the United States was central to the case.
Another animal cruelty video showed workers in Wyoming punching and kicking pigs and flinging piglets into the air.
What happened? Local authorities in Wyoming charged nine farm employees with cruelty to animals.
And at one of the country’s largest egg suppliers, a video shows hens caged alongside rotting bird corpses, while workers burn and snap off the beaks of young chicks.
What happened? According to the New York Times the egg supplier, which operates in Iowa and other states, lost one of its biggest customers, McDonald’s, which said the video played a part in its decision.
Of course, it’s NOT just in the US. Animal cruelty happens all over the world.
What Happens When Animal Cruelty is Exposed?
You would think everyone would be glad to have these crimes exposed, and the perpetrators punished, wouldn’t you?
Not so.
In some US states, you are no longer allowed to record animal cruelty videos. Many states have proposed or actually enacted bills that
- make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms,
- make it illegal to apply for a job at a farm without disclosing ties to animal rights groups.
These types of bills are popularly known as “Ag-Gag” bills.
Animal rights activists say laws passed in many states make it nearly impossible to produce undercover animal cruelty videos. Some groups say that they have curtailed activism in those states.
Many other states are debating the issue.
I think it’s wrong to penalise the whistle-blowers.
Lack of oversight is rarely good.
The Opposing View on Animal Cruelty Videos
Let’s look at what the lobbyists for the agriculture and meat industries say.
1. If you’re not familiar with farming, some methods may seem troubling. If you saw open-heart surgery for the first time, you might be horrified at cutting someone open, even though it might be a perfectly correct procedure to save a life.
There’s probably some truth to this. Take pig crates, for example. Pregnant sows are placed in crates where they are unable to turn around. There has been a lot of activism around this – lots of pictures of sows looking very cramped.
But when pregnant, and when new piglets are introduced into a group, sows fight. Crates offer protection to less dominant sows. Sows may also lie on, and squash, their piglets – crates help to prevent this. That’s something you don’t hear about too often.
Are crates the right solution? I’m not a farmer so I can’t say for sure. With increasing demand for meat, farmers look for ways to produce more meat while keeping costs low. There are probably alternative methods which solve this dilemma.
2. Online videos can cast farmers in a false light and give them little opportunity to correct the record.
Again, there’s probably some truth to that. Animal cruelty videos may persist on the Internet for example, after a company has rectified the problem.
Nonetheless, if the only way to get cruelty stopped and prosecuted is to record undercover animal cruelty videos, then the whistle-blowers should not be penalised.
What Can You Do?
Do you know if your state already has, or is considering, an Ag-Gag Bill? If not, this site might help
Then write to your state legislature and tell them no one is above the law.
It’s Sad
It’s actually sad that we need animal cruelty videos to expose cruelty all over the world.
But without those videos, how else is wrong-doing exposed, and how do we as consumers know what’s going on? How else will we be able to bring about change if it’s necessary?
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I think that if a US state creates a law which prohibits anti-cruelty videos then they themselves have something to hide/protect and this I am sure will involve influential (read donors) large farming businesses which breed various animals for sale. I do believe that in some cases though that farmers are incorrectly blamed for cruelty due to a lack of understanding of something which is in fact protective for new born animals, parent animals and sometimes even for the farmer.
I agree, if undercover reporting is banned then there is certainly something to hide. It’s true about farmers being sometimes unjustly blamed – I don’t know a huge amount about farming, just a little from growing up in a rural part of Ireland, and that’s why I always like to try to provide both sides of a story. Thanks!