Ag-Gag and Drones

Ag-Gag and Drones

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
We all know how people in agriculture in Idaho, particularly those in the beef and dairy production business, feel about being "monitored" by activists who are trying to dig up some dirt on the way we are treating our animals. Sneaking onto private property and taking videos has produced the so-called "ag/ gag laws that prohibit that type of activity. Now activists are taking surreptitious videos to an all new level... Make that higher level... Meaning the use of drones. Drones with the fabulous optics technology that is now available could hover over animal agricultural operations and snap away pictures or videos that could be very telling concerning livestock operations. But that is illegal if the drone is hovering directly over the property. Nonetheless, what about hovering over public property such as a park and shooting images of dairys or beef cafo's from their? There's an activist by the name of Will Potter who is proposing that very activity with his "Drone on the Farm", a campaign to combine drone photography with investigative reporting. Here is a soundbite from Mr. Potter that I got off of YouTube. "Animal rights and environmental movements, really more than any other social justice movement, at their core question what it means to be a human being. It necessitates that you reevaluate How we produce our food, our clothing, industry, transportation and there are a lot of vested political interests in all of those things.
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