For Immediate Release:
May 19, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382
Des Moines, Iowa -- National Republican political consultant Mary Matalin has just sent an urgent letter to Republicans in Iowa's legislature regarding Iowa House Bill (HF) 589, which, if passed, would criminalize undercover investigations of cruelty to farmed animals. (A copy of the letter is attached.) In the letter—which was sent to Speaker Kraig Paulsen, Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, and bill sponsor Rep. Annette Sweeney—Matalin points out that undercover investigations help officials enforce animal welfare laws, and she adds that bills similar to HF 589 in Florida, Missouri, and her home state of Illinois have all failed, with Minnesota's bill poised to follow suit.
Last month, PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews screened video footage in Iowa's State Capitol from an undercover case that resulted in the Greene County sheriff's filing of 22 cruelty charges against workers at an Iowa supplier to Hormel Foods. Please let us know if you'd like to speak to Mr. Mathews regarding this issue. Iowa native and PETA spokesperson Cloris Leachman also weighed in on the bill in this op-ed in the Des Moines Register.
Mary Matalin's letter follows.
Dear Majority Leader Upmeyer,
Greetings. I’m sorry to hear that House File 589, which would criminalize filming on farms, is still getting pushed along in Iowa. A similar bill died in my home state of Illinois, as have others in Missouri, Florida, and soon in Minnesota. Lawmakers and consumers from across the political spectrum have found that while promoting agriculture is of prime importance, so is making sure that workers at farms and slaughterhouses adhere to anti-cruelty laws. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act is very poorly funded for enforcement. Local law enforcement has been happy to work in hand with any party revealing illegal activities. Without PETA’s investigation of a Hormel supplier’s farm in Iowa, the Greene County Sheriff wouldn’t have been able to file 22 cruelty charges in a case which Pork magazine said “should be a wake-up call for the pork industry.” If House File 589 succeeds, it may well single Iowa out as the state with something to hide, which I know can’t be the case.
Mary Matalin