News

Activists charged under Utah’s ‘ag-gag’ law

Four animal rights activists who photographed a Utah hog farm in September have plead not guilty to charges filed under Utah’s “ag-gag” law.

The four, who are the first to be prosecuted under the state’s ag-gag law, entered the no guilty pleas last week to charges of trespass and agricultural operation interference. They are accused to driving onto the property and taking pictures of Circle Four Farms near Milford, Utah. That facility is owned by Murphy-Brown LLC, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

The lawyer for the defendants says they stood on the roadside and took photos of the buildings, but never went onto the farm’s property. He says his clients wanted to document the trek that truckloads of pigs took from the Utah farm to a downtown Los Angeles slaughterhouse.

The activists claim they were not aware of the ag-gag law.

Link to story in Salt Lake Tribune

Photo courtesy Murphy-Brown LLC