PETA Statement: Iowa ‘Ag-Protection’ Bill

For Immediate Release:
June 10, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk regarding SF 2413, the Iowa “ag-protection” law passed earlier tonight that could result in harsh penalties for whistleblowers and animal advocates seeking to expose cruelty in the state’s meat industry:

At a time when the meat industry is baking animals to death because many slaughterhouses are closed and putting workers and consumers at risk by keeping COVID-19–riddled slaughterhouses open, protecting them from public scrutiny is inexcusable pandering at the expense of human health and animal welfare. Lawmakers are attempting another chilling restriction on free speech, and PETA urges Iowa to focus its economy on crops like soybeans, oats, and more—so there’s no reason for secrecy and no one gets hurt.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat,” and we oppose speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.