Tell Iowa Lawmakers Documenting Cruelty is Not a Crime
Your voice is urgently needed to help farmed animals. Please use the
form below to contact Iowa legislators today to encourage them to oppose
Senate File 431, which would effectively criminalize undercover cruelty
investigations in Iowa.
Iowa Senator Tom Rielly (D-Mahaska) has introduced Senate File 431, which, if
passed, would create civil and criminal penalties for a wide variety of activities
and would prohibit anyone from producing, possessing, or distributing a record of
a "visual or audio experience occurring at [an] animal facility." The proposed bill
would effectively criminalize undercover investigations.
Senate File 431 seeks to prevent compassionate people from blowing the whistle
on cruelty to farmed animals and organizations like Mercy For Animals from
conducting lifesaving cruelty investigations at factory farms, hatcheries, and
slaughterhouses in the state of Iowa. Clearly, the meat, egg, and dairy industries
realize that most Americans care about animals and would be appalled to see
farmed animals treated as mere commodities. These animal-abusing industries hope
that by concealing cruelty, they can continue business as usual.
Unfortunately, House File 589, the companion bill to Senate File 431, has already
passed the Iowa House of Representatives, even though both of these controversial
bills have been condemned by the news media and widely opposed by the public.
According to a recent survey, the majority of Iowans oppose these ludicrous bills.
And following a Des Moines Register's editorial decrying the bills as unconstitutional,
Jane Velez-Mitchell also spoke out against these shameful attempts to criminalize
undercover investigations during her nationally syndicated show, Issues with Jane
Velez-Mitchell.
But all of this may not be enough to stop these bills from becoming law. Please take
a moment to use the forms below to contact Iowa senators to politely, yet strongly,
voice your opposition to Senate File 431. Let them know that most people agree
that legislators should be focusing on strengthening animal cruelty laws – not
prosecuting those who blow the whistle on animal abuse. If this proposed legislation
does pass in the Iowa senate and is signed into law by the governor, it will set a
dangerous precedent that would allow factory farms to operate in the shadows with
impunity, while threatening human health, the environment and animal welfare.
Remember to personalize the form letters and subject lines with your own words to make your messages stand out and to strengthen their impact.
