Special Investigations

Press Freedom Defense Fund

FAA Investigates Drone Pilot Who Films Animal Abusers

The cattle ranch at the center of the case demands strict drone regulations, saying legal flyovers threatened “food security.”

For years, animal rights groups and the agriculture industry have played a cat-and-mouse game over drone videos of conditions at major farms.

Angry farmhands faced off against activists who flew their drones overhead, with the operators secure in the knowledge that the Federal Aviation Administration allows licensed pilots to soar over farmland as long as they followed its rules and regulations.

Now, a new chapter has opened in these drone wars: The FAA has launched an investigation of an animal rights activist whose group’s videos of conditions at California cattle ranches sparked outrage, with the agency simultaneously proposing new rules that could prevent the pilots’ flyovers altogether.

The same company whose ranch is at the center of the allegations against the pilot is pushing for government restrictions on drone flights in the name of protecting the “national food supply chain.”

In Iowa, Politicians Protect the Meat Industry by Making Animal Rights Activists Criminals

It is unclear whether the investigation represents a routine administrative step or the beginning of a broader crackdown, activists affiliated with the group Direct Action Everywhere said, but the group is watching closely.

“We know the industry lies about us, including saying our footage is edited,” Cassie King, a spokesperson for the group, told the Intercept. “What would be most concerning is if the FAA believes those lies at face value and tries to take licenses away from drone pilots who are operating safely to expose to the public what animals are suffering, and basically just to help the industry shut down that work in the public interest.”

The FAA does not comment on open investigations, a spokesperson said.

Drones Against Cruelty

The advent of drones gave animal rights groups a major leg up in their long-running campaign against big farms, which they allege routinely deploy abusive and cruel behavior against chickens, cows and calves, pigs, and other species bred for human consumption.

For years, diehard activists faced arrest and prosecution for sneaking onto farms with cameras to document conditions. Those same activists have gone legal in the drone era, since federal law largely allows licensed drone pilots to fly over farms and capture video of the conditions below.

The activists’ videos have already created major headaches for cattle farmers. In February, a Direct Action Everywhere pilot caught ranch hands in California’s Central Valley kicking young calves and pulling them with pliers. One of the workers involved was fired, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Now another Direct Action Everywhere pilot is facing........

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