UPDATE: As Ag-Gag Advances in North Carolina, New Investigation Reveals What's at Stake

May 21, 2015

Update—May 29, 2015:  Great news! Governor McCrory vetoed H.B. 405, the dangerous ag-gag bill that would have silenced whistleblowers and kept North Carolina residents in the dark about horrific animal abuse on industrial farms. If you live in North Carolina, please visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center now to thank the Governor for opposing this bill and to urge your state legislators to let the veto stand.

If a pending ag-gag bill becomes law in North Carolina, a newly released investigation may be the last look the public will get behind the closed doors of industrial agriculture in the state. Undercover video exposing abuse inside a North Carolina chicken slaughterhouse comes just as state lawmakers passed a dangerous ag-gag bill (H.B. 405) designed to prevent exactly this kind of disclosure.

The footage, as reported by ABC 11 Raleigh, was captured by an investigator for animal welfare group Compassion Over Killing in March and April 2015. It reveals birds being violently tossed across the facility, workers slamming birds upside down into moving shackles, and sick or injured birds tossed into piles of dead birds like trash. H.B. 405 aims to prevent the documentation and exposure of animal abuse and any other wrong-doing inside factory farms and slaughterhouses, including food safety-related violations and environmental or workers’ rights issues.

Rather than stopping these abuses, some North Carolina lawmakers and corporations would rather just keep the public in the dark.

Whether or not you live in North Carolina, you can help!  Please take these actions today to help ensure this bill does not become law. Animals should never suffer in secrecy.
 

If you live in North Carolina:

  1. Call Governor McCrory at (919) 814-2000 and leave a message with the receptionist stating that you are a North Carolina resident and are asking Governor McCrory to veto H.B. 405, the ag-gag bill. If you are calling after normal business hours, please call (919) 814-2050 and press 2 to leave a voicemail.
     
  2. Email Governor McCrory using this urging him to veto H.B. 405. Please only email the Governor if you are a North Carolina resident.
     
  3. Tweet at Governor McCrory asking him to veto the ag-gag bill. You could tweet something like: Animals shouldn’t suffer in secret! @PatMcCroryNC, please veto HB405! #NCAgGag #NCpol
     
  4. Share this post and the card below with your friends and social media networks, asking everyone to take action today!
     

Don't live in North Carolina? Your voice can still make a difference! Because your dollars support North Carolina businesses, you can still help by letting Governor McCrory know that you’ll lose trust in North Carolina businesses if ag-gag becomes law.

  1. Tweet at Governor McCrory, the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association to let them know that you won’t trust North Carolina products or businesses if ag-gag prevents whistleblowers from coming forward in the state. 

    You can post these pre-drafted messages, or use your own:

    #NCAgGag puts ALL consumers at risk! @PatMcCroryNC, please veto HB405!

    .@NCChamber @NCRMA @PatMcCroryNC #NCAgGag is everyone’s problem. What is NC trying to hide?

     
  2. Next, share the card below with your social media networks to show you stand with North Carolina!
     

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