Animal Welfare’s Legal Battle
By Alicyn Leigh 11/09/2006 3:27 pm
Smithtown attorney Amy L. Chaitoff
says AETA bill would criminalize the work
of animal welfare activists.
Animal welfare issues, unfortunately are not part of our everyday news reports. Attorney Amy L. Chaitoff, who practices in Smithtown, is trying to change that, by creating awareness regarding the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA).
“This bill proposes to amend Title 18 U.S.C. 43, known as the Animal Enterprise Protection Act,” explains Chaitoff. “This proposed amendment effectively erodes the First Amendment right to freedom of speech by labeling and punishing people as terrorists simply for speaking out on behalf of animals and against the inhumane and cruel business practices employed by many animal-related enterprises.”
This includes the majority of the animal welfare community, such as organizations working to create lawful change via boycotts, education, protests, petitions, investigations and lawsuits. The AETA bill is “extremely broad and overly vague on what constitutes terrorism under the act,” she says.
For example, the bill’s text appears to exclude “lawful economic disruption that results from lawful public, governmental, or business reaction to the disclosure of information about an animal enterprise.” However, the term “lawful” is not defined, leaving interpretation to the court. The AETA could make it illegal to expose cruel conditions existing at animal-related enterprises such as factory farms, puppy mills, and research labs, if exposing the conditions causes economic damage to the enterprise.
The AETA bill could label these people as terrorists, and they could face thousands of dollars in fines and severe jail time, including a 10-year jail sentence if the animal-related industry loses $100,000.
This bill could paralyze the ability of the animal welfare movement to create change through civil disobedience and education.
“Under the current law, it is not clear if such positive icons of change such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been classified as terrorists,” Chaitoff maintains. “In addition, there are organizations that investigate animal-related corporations and medical labs to gain much-needed evidence that these facilities are breaking the law.”
The legislation supports “corporations that make billions yearly from the slaughter and sale of animals; puppy-mill breeders that sell puppies at pet stores; and research and medical labs that test cosmetics, household cleaning products, toxins and diseases on animals,” explains Chaitoff.
Said businesses are subject to activism because of unsanitary living conditions, inhumane handling and treatment of animals, and unnecessary and painful experiments.
“But this bill has everything to do with the animal industries’ desire to go virtually unopposed by animal welfare groups and protect against losing profits as a result of animal welfare activist intervention,” says Chaitoff.
The AETA bill has passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate. The bill is now currently before the U.S. House of Representatives for approval. Please write to your congressman and ask that they oppose this bill.
Contact:
Amy L. Chaitoff
Chaitoff Law
25 West Main St.
Smithtown, NY 11787
631-265-0155
amy@chaitofflaw.
This past Friday at the White House, President Bush signed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act into law.
This landmark legislation, which was strongly backed by The Humane Society of the United States, requires local and state disaster plans to include provisions for household pets and service animals in the event of a major disaster or emergency. When I was in the Gulf during Hurricane Katrina, I saw the government's failure to have a plan for helping animals. Tens of thousands of animals suffered terribly and were lost or left behind because our communities and responders didn't have a plan in place.
With more than 358 million pets in the United States residing in 63 percent of American households, the PETS Act will help ensure that Americans never again are faced with the horrifying choice of abandoning their pet and finding their way to safety, or staying with their pet and remaining in a hazardous, and potentially life-threatening situation.
Some states and local communities have already engaged in disaster preparedness for animals, and with a federal law now in place, the future for you and your companion animal in a disaster is much brighter.
Thank you for helping us pass the PETS Act, and for all you do on behalf of animals!
Sincerely,
Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States