“Four animal activists who took pictures of a large southwestern Utah hog farm pleaded not guilty” to violating a state law against entering agricultural property in order to take photographs, says Feedstuffs. The four, from California and Maryland were charged with trespass and agricultural operation interference at the Circle Four Farms near Milford, Utah, which is owned by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. A lawyer for the group said they were on a public road and took photos of buildings, rather than animals or workers.
The Salt Lake (City) Tribune says the group “may be the first defendants prosecuted under Utah’s ‘ag gag’ law.” One of the defendants, professional photographer Sarah Hardt, told the Tribune that the group wanted to document the truckloads of hogs shipped from the farm to a slaughterhouse i Los Angeles. The “ag gag” law, “which makes undercover investigations and surreptitious recording of animal agricultural operations a crime,” is under challenge in federal court, says the Tribune.