Fearing arrest under laws pushed by the agriculture industry, animal rights activists have halted undercover camera investigations into animal cruelty in five farm states, including Iowa and Utah where the laws went into effect last year.

"We are not conducting our investigations in those five states," said Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, a group whose most recent hidden-camera exposé led to criminal charges against employees at the largest dairy farm in Idaho.

The Humane Society of the United States has also stopped its hidden-camera investigations in those states as a result of what it concedes has been a victory for the agribusiness industry