Thanks for Letting the FL Senate Know

That You Won’t Stand for Laws Designed to Hide Cruelty

The Ag Gag bill S 1184 would have made it illegal to take a photo or video on a farm without the express written permission of the owner.  That would enable factory farms to abuse animals even worse than they do today, because no one would be able to prove it.  That would threaten our eco system as farms include all manner of industries and could result in chemicals, toxins and waste being dumped directly into streams and lakes and make it a crime for anyone to capture evidence of the travesty.

Thanks to all of you who made your voices heard for the animals, section 6 was deleted from S 1184 in a Committee Substitute of the bill.  The fight isn’t over yet though, as there are two more committees who will review the bill and anything could happen between now and the time that it makes it to the Senate floor for a vote.  We will keep you posted, but for now, this is the good news:

VIII. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Substantial Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
CS by Agriculture Committee on January 23, 2012:
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1184 is different from Senate Bill 1184 in that it:
Deletes Section 6 of SB 1184 which prohibits a person to knowingly enter any
nonpublic area of a farm and, without prior written consent to record sounds or
images of the farm or farm operations, with certain exceptions. It also provided that
violations would be punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year or
a fine of $1,000. This deleted section of the bill had an effective date of October 1,
2012.

Now Let the House Know That They Need to Do the Same

The House version of this bill is being heard on Jan 25 and FL House members need to know that this provision should be removed from their bill language as well.  HB 1021 01/23/2012 H On Committee agenda– Criminal Justice Subcommittee, 01/25/12, 11:00 am, 404 HOB

Please send this letter now:  https://catlaws.com

Section 6. Effective October 1, 2012, section 810.127,

188 Florida Statutes, is created to read:

189 810.127 Unauthorized entry and use of recording device on

190 farm; penalties.—

191 (1) As used in this section, the term:

192 (a) “Audio or video recording function” means the

193 capability of a camera, an audio or video recorder, or any other

194 device to record, store, transfer, broadcast, or transmit sound

195 or images by means of any technology now known or later developed, regardless of the recording media or format,

197 including, but not limited to, photographs or film; magnetic

198 storage, including audio cassette tapes, videocassette tapes,

199 hard disk drives, and floppy disk drives; flash memory,

200 including memory cards, flash drives, and solid state drives;

201 optical disc storage media, including compact discs, digital

202 versatile discs, and blu-ray discs; streaming media; and any

203 other electrical, magnetic, optical, or form of data storage.

204 (b) “Farm” has the same meaning as provided in s. 823.14.

205 For purposes of this section, the term also includes any other

206 land upon which a legal farm operation is being conducted and

207 upon which farm products are being produced.

208 (c) “Farm operation” has the same meaning as provided in

209 s. 823.14.

210 (d) “Farm product” has the same meaning as provided in s.

211 823.14.

212 (2) A person may not knowingly enter upon any nonpublic

213 area of a farm and, without the prior written consent of the

214 farm’s owner or the owner’s authorized representative, operate

215 the audio or video recording function of any device with the

216 intent of recording sound or images of the farm or farm

217 operation.

(3) This section does not apply to:

219 (a) An employee or agent of the Department of Agriculture

220 and Consumer Services acting under s. 570.15.

221 (b) An employee or agent of the Department of Business and

222 Professional Regulation acting under chapter 450.

(c) A law enforcement officer conducting a lawful

224 inspection or investigation.

225 (d) Any other government employee conducting official

226 regulatory business.

227 (e) An engineer or his or her agent or employee acting

228 under s. 471.027.

229 (f) A land surveyor and mapper or his or her subordinate,

230 agent, or employee, as necessary for conducting any activity

231 under chapter 472.

232 (g) A person acting on behalf of an insurer for

233 inspection, underwriting, or claims purposes.

234 (4) A person who violates this section commits a

235 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.

236 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Let NY Know that Wild Bobcats Can “Manage” Themselves

NY is accepting public input about their bobcat “mgt plan” a/k/a hunting plan. Input from hunters/trappers who use the “bobcat resource” has been given priority. Please email your thoughts of bobcats as an important part of our ecosystem to: fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us (type “Bobcat Plan” in the subject line). FEB 16 deadline!

DEC Releases Draft Bobcat Management Plan

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the release of a proposed five-year bobcat management plan for public review and comment.