NONE BUT THE BRAVE: The dangerous job of an animal agriculture undercover investigator
Farmers and agri-businesses don’t want people to see what goes on in their facilities, because they know the public will be shocked and outraged by the constant cruelty animals endure on farms.
SHARON NUNEZ: The animal agriculture industry is cloaked in secrecy and deception, and every day Animal Equality’s brave and compassionate investigators fight back to expose the industry’s animal abuse. Our investigators face dangerous environments and risk their own safety to bring vital information about animal suffering to the public. In addition to the physical dangers, investigators are prevented from exposing farms in certain U.S. states, due to discriminatory and unconstitutional ag-gag laws that unjustly target undercover investigations.
Ag-gag laws are state laws intended to prevent the public from learning about the intense suffering of animals on farms. These laws make investigations of farms illegal in some states. Ag-gag laws violate the right to freedom of speech and exist solely to allow the agriculture industry to abuse animals, while punishing anyone who tries to uncover their deceptive practices. Animal agriculture industries continue to profit from the lies they tell to the public about “happy” animals, and ag-gag laws allow them to get away with it.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), undercover investigations are powerful tools that can be used to inform the public about wrongdoing and deceit in corporations and industries, and laws against these investigations put our civil rights at risk… Ag-gag laws in Kansas, Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming have been deemed unconstitutional, and the fate of Arkansas’s law is currently being decided in court. Other states have tried unsuccessfully to pass ag-gag laws, but the bottom line is that ag-gag is a blatant attempt by big agribusinesses to hide the disturbingly cruel treatment of animals on farms…
Without undercover investigations, no one would hold the powerful animal agricultural industry accountable for their actions. Farmers and agribusinesses don’t want people to see what goes on in their facilities, because they know the public will be shocked and outraged by the constant cruelty animals endure on farms. That’s why it’s so important for Animal Equality investigators to be able to enter these dangerous and unsanitary facilities to bring animals’ experiences to light…
Investigators face personal harm and injury in these hazardous and unhealthy working conditions, and may even risk their lives. Farms are often shrouded in secrecy. In 2019, Animal Equality investigators exposed the connection between animal agriculture and deforestation at great risk to their own personal safety, when they discovered that farmers were illegally setting fires to clear land for grazing cows.
Investigators have also braved untreated sewage spills to uncover appalling conditions for pigs on an Italian farm. They’ve infiltrated wet markets in China and faced unsanitary conditions and potential infectious disease exposures, and they’ve risked physical attacks or retaliation to expose cruelty in unregulated slaughterhouses in Mexico. Despite these dangers, Animal Equality investigators continue their work because they know the evidence they gather is critical to unmasking animal abuse. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: