An animal rights group says members found animal neglect when they entered a pig facility co-owned by a state senator who was a leading supporter of Iowa's new but contested "ag-gag" law.

"Inside the barns, we documented severe rectal prolapses and intense overcrowding with noxious ammonia in the air and excrement coating the floors," activists from Berkeley, California-based Direct Action Everywhere said in a statement.

"One piglet was unable to stand, gasping for air while thrashing wildly for several minutes, before dying before our eyes," they said.

The activists, who entered the facility near Oskaloosa without permission in April, released selected photos and videos of their findings today. They said they had filed a complaint Thursday with the Mahaska County Sheriff's Office, the county attorney and the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

While acknowledging some problems at the facility, state Sen. Ken Rozenboom said Thursday the investigation was a "professional hit job" designed to undermine consumer support for the pork industry.

Rozenboom said he and his brother, Calvin, who own the facility, plan to pursue trespass charges against members of the group.

Rozenboom said another farmer was leasing and operating the facility in April, when Direct Action says its members walked through an unlocked door at the animal feeding operation to investigate conditions.

Direct Action said it targeted Rozenboom, a Republican, because he was among the legislators who helped pass last year's ag-gag law.

The law makes it a crime for animal welfare activists, journalists and others to go undercover at meatpacking plants and livestock facilities to document conditions.

"He's the epitome of the problem here," said Matt Johnson, an Iowan who led the group's research. "He's trying to grow and expand factory farming while shielding it from transparency."

Rozenboom contends the activists exposed the animals to possible disease by entering the facility without permission. Johnson says the group members took biosecurity precautions, showering before their visit and wearing protective biohazard suits and shoe coverings.

"They say they're all about rescue and saving animals from cruelty. But it’s nothing to do with pigs," Rozenboom said, pointing to the group's nine-month delay in revealing its findings.

"It’s about staging a rally," he said, referring to an event that Direct Action participated in Thursday at the state Capitol along with other environmental and animal welfare groups. The groups called for a moratorium on building new confined animal feeding operations in Iowa, which they label “factory farms,” and met with state lawmakers.

Johnson said that the group waits to report its concerns to authorities because it wants to make sure it's not blamed for a disease outbreak. He said the state's ag-gag laws "have created a climate of fear."

The 2019 ag-gag law is being challenged in court; a federal judge has temporarily barred the state from enforcing it. A court struck down a 2012 version of the law as unconstitutional, a decision the state is challenging.

Rozenboom said Direct Action's photographs and video show "careless animal practices" that violate protocols he and his brother have followed over their lifetime.

"I acknowledge that there were caretaker deficiencies. There were things that not ought to have happened, that we're not OK with," Rozenboom said. "I'm ashamed of it."

Rozenboom said he and his brother decided late last year to lease the building to a different farmer, Calvin Rozenboom's grandson.

He said they made the switch because they were concerned about how the former operator cared for his animals and maintained the building. He pointed to delays in removing dead pigs from the facility as an example.

Direct Action documented dead pigs at the facility as well as animal bones. The group said the conditions that members found there constitute "criminal animal neglect," based on reviews from an attorney and veterinarian.

Sherstin Rosenberg, a California veterinarian who has worked with Direct Action, said the video showed "extreme confinement and overcrowding" that led to some pigs being trampled. One piglet had two 6-inch gashes across its back.

"This overcrowding is certainly done with knowledge and intent, in order to maximize pig numbers and increase profits," said Rosenberg, who has written assessments in other Direct Action probes.

Rosenberg said several piglets in the video suffered from rectal prolapse, a life-threatening condition that may result from constipation or diarrhea. She said the pigs needed immediate medical care.

Rozenboom said veterinary records show that the herd was being treated for a respiratory infection that contributed to the problems Direct Action documented.

And while it's difficult to see from the photos and video, Rozenboom said he believes the pigs with rectal prolapses were segregated in a "hospital pen," away from other animals that can bite and chew on the tissue, making it worse.

Rozenboom said the prolapses can result in animals being euthanized.

In a legal review for Direct Action, Bonnie Klapper, an attorney in New York, said she believes the treatment of the pigs constitutes criminal animal neglect.

"In the video, it is clear that some of the pigs are neglected and abused to the point of death in a manner inconsistent with customary animal husbandry practices," Klapper wrote.

Eldon McAfee, a Des Moines attorney who represents the Iowa Pork Producers Association, disagrees with Klapper, saying criminal animal neglect cases deal mostly with those who fail to provide adequate food, water and other basic necessities.

McAfee said he saw nothing in the photos or video that "raises to the level of criminal animal neglect."

Rozenboom also challenged Direct Action's contention that the facility was overcrowded, saying the group "staged" photographs to give that impression.

The facility was built to hold 2,000 pigs that are fed until they reach market weight, about 280 pounds. Rozenboom said the pigs shown in the activists' photos and video weigh about 60 or 70 pounds, so they were using only about a quarter of the available space.

Rozenboom owns three facilities with his brother: Two have about 2,000 pigs in each, and one has about 1,200.

He said the pig facilities are bright, well-ventilated and temperature-controlled.

"The pigs are not confined to pens," he said. "They have lots of space to eat, sleep and play," including a "food court" and "loafing area."

Johnson, however, said Direct Action had no need to stage photos. "When we walked in there the animals had bloody scratches all over them, were covered in their own feces and stacked up," he said.

Johnson said it was unclear that the pigs with rectal prolapses were being segregated. "These poor animals' insides were hanging out of them," he said. "We could tell some of these were days old."

Governments across the country are taking action to protect "big agriculture," Johnson said, including passing laws like Iowa's ag-gag statutes.

Gannett Co., which owns the Des Moines Register, filed a friend of the court brief along with many other news organizations opposing the Iowa ag-gag law as unconstitutional on free-speech grounds.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.