American animal welfare charity Mercy for Animals has recently released undercover video showing cruelty to animals on a US pig farm. The footage, which was released following an investigation into pig farming in the US state of Iowa, shows “shocking cruelty to pigs and piglets.”

The Mercy for Animals investigation coincided with a proposed bill in several US states that, if passed, would make it illegal for campaigners to shoot films or take photographs of farms undercover. Campaigners have pointed to the recent footage as evidence of the importance of undercover work in maintaining transparency in the food industry and reining-in increasingly powerful large-scale meat producers. Many in the USA are contesting the bill on the grounds that it is an infringement on the country’s First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which includes freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Mercy for Animals’ footage, released on Wednesday (29th June) gives an insight into one of North America's largest pork producers between April and June 2011. The video shows the clear mistreatment of pigs and piglets, as well as sick or injured animals being neglected.

In a statement, farm animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming said it “applauds Mercy for Animals for its recent undercover investigation,” the organisation went on to stress the importance of such charities in ensuring welfare standards are upheld, “[investigators] work hard to uncover and expose illegal and cruel farming practices that cause suffering to farm animals. Compassion's own investigations into pig farms across Europe captured images of animals huddled on barren, slatted floors and illegal routine tail docking, and it is using this film to lobby for better enforcement of EU law on pig welfare.”

Livestock video bill foundering in US courts

Efforts to outlaw undercover filming on livestock farms appear to have faltered in Iowa in recent months. Complaints from those who say the bill is intended primarily to protect the industry, with little concern for animals' welfare, are gaining widespread support.

Sarah Damian of the American Food Integrity Campaign explained, “Undercover filming like this is often the only tool whistleblowers can use to effectively reveal the truth about conditions in large-scale animal agriculture. Going through ‘proper channels’ to report abuse often results in supervisors intimidating those employees who have made complaints to keep quiet.”

The bill, which would have seen fines of up to $7,500 and five year prison sentences for those found recording or distributing undercover footage, has proven highly controversial. The proposals initially appeared to be sailing through the Iowa Legislature after going through the State House, but have run into trouble in the Senate. Similar measures have also faltered in other states planning to implement the laws, including Minnesota, Florida and New York.

However, those in the livestock industry remain unshakable in their vision; Annette Sweeney, a farmer and Republican legislator from Iowa said, "I feel it is wrong to absolutely lie to get a job to try to defame the employer," and Bruce Berven, an Iowa Cattlemen's Association lobbyist, described what he saw as the broader goals of animal welfare activists, "Their agenda is clear and basically anti-livestock; they are basically just using this issue to promote their vegan-slash-vegetarian agenda. There's a bigger war going on than this issue.”

Nevertheless, Emily Vaughn of Slow Food USA, based in New York, maintained, "A well-managed farm has nothing to hide; it's something that people have the right to know."