All Ag-Gag Bills Introduced in 2013 Now Defeated

Last Friday, Senate Bill 648, which would have made undercover investigations of factory farms illegal, went without a vote in North Carolina. This marks the 11th ag-gag bill to be killed, including those that were introduced in Tennessee, Arkansas, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Animal-welfare organization Mercy For Animals attributes the animal-rights victories to the many people who called, wrote, and emailed into their legislators to voice their opposition of ag-gag bills, as well as to the numerous national organizations who worked together to make sure that the crimes committed by factory farms are not permitted to go unheard. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals commissioned a national survey in 2012 and found that 71 percent of Americans support undercover investigations of industrial farms.