Animal rights activists, fearing criminal prosecution, have halted undercover camera investigations in five farm states, including Iowa and Utah, where laws went into effect in 2012. “We are not conducting our investigations in those five states,” said Nathan Rundle, executive director of Mercy for Animals. The Humane Society of the United States has also stopped its hidden-camera investigations in those states.
The first such bill passed the Iowa Senate last year, making it a crime for anyone applying for a job at a farm to lie about being a member of an animal rights group. Similar legislation to stop undercover videos has already been introduced this year in the legislatures of at least five states–New Hampshire, Indiana, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Arkansas. Other states that are expected to introduce legislation include Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
