Veterinarians have a lot of responsibility when it comes to the issue of animal abuse. Oregon state requires a veterinarian to report when they have a “reasonable cause to believe that an animal with which the veterinarian has come in contact has suffered aggravated animal abuse” or that “any person with whom the veterinarian has come in contact has committed aggravated animal abuse.” ORS § 686.455.
Legal cases involving animal cruelty will likely need the testimony of a veterinarian who has examined or treated the animal. The veterinarian’s expertise as to the cause, severity and duration of an animal’s injuries (or death)—as well as the extent to which the animal suffered or experienced pain is crucial. In short, veterinarians play a critical role in bringing to justice those who perpetuate animal suffering, even if they have not witnessed the occurrence personally.
In the agricultural industry, living conditions and slaughter methods are regulated to prevent the needless suffering of animals as well as insure the safety of our food. Respectfully, this article avoids graphic detail of testimonies and videos depicting torture, faulty slaughter equipment, unsanitary working conditions and even processing of live animals. These folks have been busted time and time again with hidden videos depicting animals suffering and being tortured in clear cases of animal abuse.
In many states, agriculture giants are fighting back by trying to pass Ag-gag laws. Ag-gag laws are also known as Anti-whistleblower laws. They criminalize people who attempt to uncover these animal abuses. In September of 2014, five people that were taking pictures of a pig farm from a public street were detained for 5 hours. They were cited for breaking Utah’s ag-gag law and could face 1 year in prison if convicted.
Keeping in mind that it is perfectly legal to humanely raise and slaughter food animals, the agricultural industry has nothing to fear unless they are breaking the law or simply don’t want the public to see the truth. The fact remains that if your pet were suspected of being treated in the same manner as the farm animals depicted in these videos, it would fall under the definition of “Aggravated Animal Abuse” under Oregon state law (a class C felony), and your veterinarian must “legally” report you. Strangely, one might ponder… if a veterinarian were to take pictures of food animal atrocities and report them, they could be fined and jailed under an ag-gag law.
Most ag-gag laws have been defeated, however new bills are being pushed forward.
An online petition is available at: ag-gag.org
More information is available at: humanesociety.org