Iowa Ag-Gag Bill Dies

The Iowa State legislative session has come to its close, without the passage of a proposed “ag-gag” bill. The bill would have criminalized the filming of undercover videos on factory farms, like the one released earlier this week by Mercy for Animals, which depicted piglets being castrated without anesthesia, thrown against the ground, and having their tails ripped off with clippers. The video was taken at Iowa Select Farms in Kamrar, Iowa, which is the nation’s fourth largest pork producer. The proposed bill was funded by agribusiness interests, including Monsanto, which has more than 25 offices in Iowa.