Iowa Legislation Would Make Undercover Slaughterhouse Videos Illegal

Iowa Representative Annette Sweeney (R-Alden) has introduced a bill (H.F.
431) that would make it illegal to gain employment under false pretenses on
farms or slaughterhouse processing facilities and then produce and distribute
undercover videos. The Iowa Senate is reportedly expected to consider similar
legislation.

Defined in the bill as “animal facility interference,” shooting undercover videos at slaughterhouses would be considered anywhere from an aggravated misdemeanor up to a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and fined as much as $7,500. Similar penalties would apply to “animal facility fraud,” which would occur when a person is convicted of willfully obtaining “access to an animal facility by false pretenses for the purpose of committing an act not authorized by the owner of the animal facility” or “makes a false statement or representation as part of an application to be employed at the animal facility, if the person knows it to be false.” See Meatingplace.com, March 8, 2011.