On Nov. 23, 2010, in Cayuga County, New York, Phil Niles pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. He was ordered to pay a fine of $555, and not to have contact with animals for one year. Niles, who had been a longtime employee of Willet Dairy, had been caught hitting a cow on the head with a tool on an undercover video taken by the group Mercy for Animals in 2009.
But some are moving to make that very method of gathering evidence of animal abuse illegal. On June 2, 2011, the New York State Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill that “relates to unlawful tampering with farm animals.” Included as “tampering” — alongside such provisions as injecting animals with unauthorized substances and feeding animals without authorization — is the “unauthorized video, audio recording or photography done without the farm owner’s written consent.” Those in violation could serve up to a year in jail or pay a $1,000 fine, as well as be liable for damages. In other words, someone who strikes a cow on the head, in clear violation of animal cruelty laws, could receive a lighter punishment than someone who points a camera at the abuser.
