Hello:

Our friends on the right keep pointing out how terrible it has become because of liberal policies. Here's how bad it IS because of conservative policies...

The animal advocacy group Mercy for Animals sent an undercover investigator to E6 Cattle Company in Texas, where he filmed calf abuse over a two-week period.

To prevent such whistleblowing, several states have passed so-called “Ag-gag” laws that would make it illegal to clandestinely film inside slaughterhouses, sparking what animal rights activists fear will be a nationwide trend.

—A bill introduced in the Minnesota House in early April punishes not only videographers who pose as workers and record the inhumane treatment of animals, but also those who distribute said videos. The bill seeks to make it a felony to disrupt operations at factory farms, a component intended to punish activists and protesters. One of the sponsors is Rep. Rod Hamilton, a former president of the Minnesota Pork Producers.Republican controlled states such as Iowa, Florida, Kansas and Montana are introducing their OWN versions (http://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/animals-cruelty-and-videotape/) of punish the messenger law...

Hmmm... What could go wrong when they operate in SECRET (http://www.mercyforanimals.org/auction/video.aspx)?

*** NOTICE***

The above link is a video that should NOT be viewed by weak kneed liberals.. You know who you are, Carol. Right wingers will enjoy it, though.

Excon

We can see what a model of socialist perfection Kalifornistan is.

Why would I enjoy animal abuse? That's an undeserved and sick assumption.

Democrats are trying to legalize turning horse stables into brothels for size queens. So they can tax them to provide more handouts for other liberals...

Hello again, Steve:

I KNEW you wouldn't like it. You really ARE a lily livered lib.

But, how do account for the right wingers who DO? They don't want to STOP it. They want to HIDE it.

excon

What I find sick... is states like Maryland... that want 13 year old girls to be allowed to murder their own baby without their parents consent... yet feel mass murderers are having their rights denied because of the death penalty.

Hello again, Steve:

I KNEW you wouldn't like it. You really ARE a lily livered lib.

But, how do account for the right wingers who DO? They don't wanna STOP it. They wanna HIDE it.

excon

I don't believe anyone wants to hide it. You forget I'm smack dab in the middle of cattle country, I know cattlemen and people that work in feed lots and I KNOW they are the first in line to make sure livestock is cared for and treated humanely and would not tolerate such handling from their employees. A few bad apples do not spoil the whole bunch contrary to the saying.

Is there a point where producers should have some protection ftom activists with an agenda out to smear them?

Hello again, Steve:


Is there a point where producers should have some protection ftom activists with an agenda out to smear them?Sure.. The way to handle smears is to counter with the TRUTH.. But, silencing whistle blowers ain't going to do it. In fact, it'll have the opposite effect.

Look. If there's NOTHING to film, then nothing will get filmed.

Excon

Hello again, Steve:

Sure.. The way to handle smears is to counter with the TRUTH.. But, silencing whistle blowers ain't gonna do it. In fact, it'll have the opposite effect

Funny that you don't have that same attitude when it comes to the Obama administration's treatment of whistleblowers.

Should people be able to go undercover, trespass or misrepresent themselves anywhere they want, and especially with the specific intent to bring down an industry? I'm reasonably sure you hate when someone secretly videotapes Planned Parenthood doing illegal stuff don't you? So here's a deal for you, you put cameras in feedlots and we'll put them in abortion providers' offices. Whaddya say?

P.S. Would you hire someone you know lied on their application, especially knowing their nefarious intent?

By the way ;there are conservatives that are opposed to Ag-gag laws
Mary Matalin Urges Lawmakers to Bury 'Ag-Gag' Bills - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt08xO5euoA)

Well I see you are aware this sort of thing happens and it is not confined to the US however to prevent the gathering of evidence of abuse makes the state complicit in the behaviour. The reaction should be to shut down the abbatoir as in a recent case in Australia where the whole live export trade was shut down because of evidence of abuse in Indonesia. It was a "liberal" government who took such action

And there have been cases of such abuse in the dairy industry in the liberal state of NY . Are you sure there is no abuse of livestock in Australia ?
Animal cruelty caught on camera in Australian slaughterhouse (VIDEO) (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/down-under/australia-animal-cruelty-slaughterhouse-indonesia-meat-video)

and there have been cases of such abuse in the dairy industry in the liberal state of NY . Are you sure there is no abuse of livestock in Australia ?
Animal cruelty caught on camera in Australian slaughterhouse (VIDEO) (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/down-under/australia-animal-cruelty-slaughterhouse-indonesia-meat-video)

I didn't say there was no abuse, in fact, I said it didn't only happen in the US and I was using an example of the correct course of action not making a whitewash of Australia. There are sadistic b@stards everywhere Tom and they seem to turn up in such industries where the educational requirements aren't high but they have to be dealt with appropriately, and if that means a processor is shut down then tough and not making it illegal to blow the whistle, that is typical right wing B/S

From your own post the correct course of action yet again

the food authority in the state of New South Wales (NSW) on Friday closed the slaughterhouse — known as an abattoir in Australia — after viewing the footage, which it says reveals "acts of gross animal mistreatment."

I do oppose these Ag-gag laws ButI don't think they are typical right wing at all. I think it typical of the special relations that the agriculture industry has always had with the body politic here. It's the same arrangement where law makers of all stripes will cater to agriculture interests . This is true of dairy ,live stock; or corn to ethanol special treatment .Parity ,subsidy ,price supports ;you name it .
The correct course is to remove special government favors to the industry... and that would be a true conservative position.
The correct course is to fire the workers involved ;and fine or shut down operations that won't clean up their act.

Look I know some ag practices are considered cruel by animal liberation types however there is good practice and there is something else. Most industries operate as close to the wind as they can get but there is no excuse for outright cruelty Fact is if animals are stressed and if subjected to cruelity the quality of the product is reduced