The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced the establishment of a hotline for reporting cruelty and neglect on farms, at livestock auctions and in slaughter houses will empower employees at those facilities who have witnessed cruelty or other unlawful acts.

The hotline offers whistleblowers a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who have committed acts of cruelty to farm animals.

The HSUS will work with the United Farm Workers to distribute the hotline to workers at farms, slaughterhouses and livestock auctions.

In a press release the HSUS stated, “the hotline was launched after agribusiness interests and their legislative allies made it virtually impossible to document cruelty on factory farms in a handful of states. Those states have passed “ag gag” bills, which criminalize undercover investigations of agricultural facilities.”