Iowa, Nebraska target hidden-camera farm videos

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Activists who go undercover to record animal abuse on farms and ranches could face criminal charges under new proposals from Iowa and Nebraska lawmakers, who say activists’ videos showing suffering livestock are more about political influence and fundraising.

Lawmakers in both states have introduced measures that would make it more difficult for animal advocacy groups to conduct hidden-camera investigations.

Farm and ranching advocates said the measures would prevent misleading campaigns they argue unfairly paint entire industries as corrupt. Animal welfare groups said the proposals threaten their free-speech rights and would hinder efforts to expose abuse and neglect.

In Iowa, a measure introduced by Democratic Sen. Joe Seng and Republican Sen. Tim Kapucian would make it illegal to take a job or gain access to an animal facility under false pretenses. The bill was designed to pass legal muster and gain bipartisan support after the Iowa attorney general’s office warned last year that a similar measure likely wouldn’t survive a court challenge.

That measure failed in the Legislature last year.

Kapucian, a former livestock producer from Keystone, said he expects bipartisan support for the new bill, which focuses on gaining access to a facility instead of videotaping. He argued such a measure was needed because animal welfare groups were trying to unfairly portray producers to turn Americans against meat consumption.

“The people that are doing these activities are working toward a meatless society,” Kapucian said. “Their whole goal is to put a producer in a bad light.”