Judge Strikes Down Ag-Gag Law:

In the article “Judge Strikes Down Idaho ‘Ag-Gag’ Law” by Luke Runyon, an Idaho judge decided that Ag-Gag laws were unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment for freedom of speech. Runyon makes a good point about how the Ag-Gag laws violate privacy rights because the laws are used to curb undercover investigations on privately owned farms without the consent of the farmer. However, these laws aren’t a complete violation of the First Amendment. It is absolutely disturbing for farmers to abuse animals, whether it is on a private or public farm. It should never be tolerated.

What is Ag-Gag:

In the article “What is Ag-Gag” the author makes a claim about the Ag-Gag legislation “If recordings are allowed, individuals are forced to submit footage to authorities in an unrealistically short turnaround time, making it impossible to document patterns of abuse.” Although it could be hard to document patterns of abuse since undercover investigators must submit footage as soon as possible, it isn’t hard to see the abuse in the video. Once the abuse is recorded the proof is there so it isn’t quite necessary to see patterns of abuse. Abuse is simply wrong and shouldn’t be allowed on any farm.

Do You Support Ag-Gag Laws:

“But, Amanda, I know animal abuse is real. I’ve watched all those videos on YouTube of factory farmers beating their animals.” This is a statement from a Michigan college student who toured a ranch last summer. Although animal abuse does exist and there are plenty of videos all over the Internet of it being done it isn’t right to assume all farmers abuse their animals. After all the videos that are posted are done by PETA and HSUS supporters who see this being done once by very few farmers and make advertisements as if every farmer in the country is doing it. Ag-Gag laws are useful but aren’t needed in every state because not every farmer abuse their animals.

Dairymen Speak Out Against Animal Activists:

New laws in Idaho state that “The state ends up punishing those who expose animal cruelty more seriously than those who commit it.” I completely disagree with this new law and find it very unfair to punish those who expose animal abuse more harshly than the ones actually committing the crime. After all, animal abuse and any type of abuse is a charge and is wrong. Therefore if the farmer is exposed for committing the crime of animal abuse they should be punished however the one who reports it should be penalized for recording on a private property without consent of the owner but not harshly punished.