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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Animal-rights groups' photographic exposés prompt bill to ban taking images without consent

A bill designed to discourage animal-rights activists from taking pictures of farms passed its first hurdle in Florida last week, after considerable changes. The original bill made it a "first-degree felony charge — the same level for rape or murder — for anyone who took photos or video of a farm or its animals without the property owner's consent," Katie Sanders of the St. Petersburg Times reports. Under the original bill "photographers, journalists, law enforcement officers — even motorists pulling over to capture a pastoral roadside scene" could have been punished, Sanders writes.

The revised bill "provides exceptions for law enforcement officers and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services agents conducting inspections or investigations," Sanders writes. "It also stipulates that photography would be illegal if it happened upon entering the property without written consent, so photographs by road or air are okay." The penalty was also down graded from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Even with the revisions, animal-rights groups are unhappy with the bill. "The amendment simply replaces one absurd bill with another absurd bill," said Jeff Kerr, general counsel of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "This bill would aid and abet criminal animal abuse." State Sen. Jim Norman, who proposed the bill, said he is trying to protect farmers from "unfair outside assaults" on their property rights. (Read more)

Farmers should "YouTube proof" their operations, Andy Vance writes for Feedstuffs. He says that doesn't just mean taking steps to prevent controversial videos. "More importantly, we need to YouTube-proof our farms and processing facilities because it’s the right thing to do," he writes. "We have a moral and ethical obligation to treat and handle our animals with the dignity and respect rightly due all living creatures." (Read more)

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