skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, April 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Louisiana teachers' union concerned about educators' future; Supreme Court hears arguments in Trump immunity case; court issues restraining order against fracking waste-storage facility; landmark NE agreement takes a proactive approach to CO2 pipeline risks.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Speaker Johnson accuses demonstrating students of getting support from Hamas. TikTok says it'll challenge the ban. And the Supreme Court dives into the gray area between abortion and pregnancy healthcare, and into former President Trump's broad immunity claims.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

Whistle-Blowers Targeted Down on the Farm

play audio
Play

Monday, June 17, 2013   

NASHUA, N.H. - Animal cruelty whistle-blowers have shot undercover video exposing illegal or unethical abuse inside factory farms and slaughterhouses across the country. The meat industry is fighting back, with bills introduced in many states that would criminalize the actions of these activists.

Paul Shapiro, speaking for the Humane Society of the United States, responded, "You know that your industry has a lot to hide when it wants to make it a crime just for somebody to document what it is that you're doing."

Food safety problems have been exposed, too, in addition to animal abuse.

Industry groups have said the bills are intended to protect farmers from activists who produce misleading videos, and that legislation of this sort promotes animal care.

Emily Meredith, Animal Agriculture Alliance, described most video exposés as "illicit, underhanded and manipulative."

"America's farmers are pretty fed up with the tactics that groups like this go to, to ensure that meat production is stopped in this country," she said.

Duke University law professor Jed Purdy noted that there is lot of debate about how - and if - animals should be raised for food, but lack of transparency in the industry does not help.

"It's hard to have an intelligent debate on it if we have no clear picture of what's going on in there," Purdy said. "Of course, trying to keep those pictures out of public circulation is what these laws are really about."

HSUS spokesman Shapiro said employers have a legitimate interest in hiring workers who are not plotting to make undercover videos - but he thinks some of the proposed laws overreach.

"What the meat industry wants to do is to put questions on job applications that say, for example, 'Are you affiliated with any animal welfare charity?' If you say no, when you really are, they want to not just fire you, they want to put you in jail," Shapiro said.

In New Hampshire, HB 110 would have required people who record cruelty to livestock to report the cruelty and submit the recordings to a law enforcement agency. It was retained in committee.







get more stories like this via email

more stories
The United Nations experts also expressed concern over a Chemours application to expand PFAS production in North Carolina. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

United Nations experts are raising concerns about chemical giants DuPont and Chemours, saying they've violated human rights in North Carolina…


Environment

play sound

Conservation groups say the Hawaiian Islands are on the leading edge of the fight to preserve endangered birds, since climate change and habitat loss …

Environment

play sound

CO2 pipelines are on the increase in the United States, and like all pipelines, they come with risks. Preparing for those risks is a major focus of …


It's estimated that invasive pests destroy up to 40% of food crops and cause $220 billion in trade losses worldwide. (Lee/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

April has been "Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month," but the pests don't know that. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it's the …

Social Issues

play sound

Leaders of a teachers' union in Louisiana are voicing concerns about a package of bills they say would have the effect of dissolving labor unions in t…

David Coon designs and evaluates interventions for families and caregivers of adults with chronic illnesses, including dementia, cancer and depression. (Arizona State University)

Health and Wellness

play sound

The 2024 Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium Public Conference kicks off Saturday, where industry experts and researchers will share the latest scientific …

Environment

play sound

Environmental groups say more should be done to protect people's health from what they call toxic, radioactive sludge. A court granted a temporary …

Social Issues

play sound

Orange County's Supreme Court reversed a decision letting the city of Newburgh implement state tenant protections. The city declared a housing …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021