Government and their animal laws

How many animals do you think the following picture saved?

Countless.  How would the law know about the type of animal cruelty going on behind closed doors without photographs and videos?  They wouldn’t, and these animals could still be suffering.  How would we like to see farming?

The government in some states have proposed to make filming and photography illegal behind closed doors.   According to an article in The New York Times, “…a dozen or so state legislatures have had a different reaction: They proposed or enacted bills that would make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms, or apply for a job at one without disclosing ties to animal rights groups” (Oppel 1).  This news is shocking.  Wouldn’t you want to know what you’re putting in your body?  As a matter of fact, when you consume an animal coming from a factory farm, you are ingesting many harmful toxins.  In these farms, the animals are injected with many growth hormones and antibiotics that directly affect your own body.  The animals that inhabited these factory farms have, “…meat contaminated with Escherichia coli--better known simply as E. coli--that in turn infects humans, often small children with weaker immune systems, and literally melts their intestines” (Pearce).  To change the contaminated meat coming out of these factories, we need to be able to see what is wrong to change it.  If the government, in fact, passes these laws, how would we be able to locate the issues?  It is evident that photography is beneficial to these animals.  For example, one case in California was exposed and opened doorways to other cases of abuse in other states (Cruelty in the Name of Food).  Photography by animal rights activists can be a crucial gateway to helping other animals everywhere.

 

Is there any benefit to slamming the doors in the public’s face?  It is a violation of our rights to not know what is in our food.  I feel as if we should be more concerned about what secrets our government is keeping from us.  This isn’t just about the animals anymore, it’s about the entire world.  Together we can overcome this.

"Cruelty in The Name of Food.(Editorial)." The Washington Post [Washington D.C.] 27 Apr. 2013: n. pag. Global Issues in Context. Web. 20 June 2013. http://find.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T004&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=¤tPosition=3&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C13%29factory+farms%24&userGroupName=colu91149&inPS=true&docId=A327825652&contentSet=IAC-Documents&docId=A327825652&docType=IAC.

Boris, Lynn M. "The Food-borne Ultimatum: Proposing Federal Legislation to Create Humane Living Conditions for Animals Raised for Food in Order to Improve Human Health." Journal of Law and Health 24.2 (2011): 285. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=7&contentSet=GALE%7CA280091955&&docId=GALE|A280091955&docType=GALE&role=.

Pearce, James I. "A Brave New Jungle: Factory Farming and Advocacy in the Twenty-first Century." Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 21.2 (2011): 433. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R4&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=11&contentSet=GALE%7CA280092018&&docId=GALE|A280092018&docType=GALE&role=.

Oppel, Richard A., Jr. "Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime." The New York Times 7 Apr. 2013: A1. The New York Times. 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html.