On April 16, 2013, the Tennessee Senate passed a bill by a vote of 22-9 that people who shoot video or take photographs of animal cruelty will have to submit the material to law enforcement within 48 hours or face being charged with a crime. The House ws expected to take up the bill on the floor Thursday (04/18/13) after efforts by opponents to re-refer the bill to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee failed in the Calendar and Rules Committee on a 7-12 vote. Similar efforts are being made in other states. Proponents say the bill is aimed at protecting animals. But critics like the Human Society of the United States say it is really an “Ag Gag” bill aimed at blocking investigators from sound documentation of animal abuse such as that which has plagued the Tennessee Walking Horse industry over decades.