One of the workers shown severely abusing cows and calves on Conklin Dairy Farm has been arrested. The charges? All misdemeanors.
Think about that. This is a man who is so angry, so depraved that he breaks tails of other sentient beings, stabs them with pitchforks, twists their necks and legs so that he can beat them, punches and kicks animals in the face and sensitive udder...and all he faces are misdemeanors. This is a dangerous person. As of yet, not even the agribusiness industry can step up and defend anything that went on at this farm.
The farm was visited three times last year by the state.
Conklin is a 4th generation dairy farmer. He is the owner. He wrote a statement decrying the abuse seen in the video.
He could not comment on the footage showing him kicking a cow who could not get up several times. When your boss kicks the cows, why is it surprising that workers would do it too?
Sure, this may be atypical, but how are consumers supposed to know? How is your average citizen who is worried about paying bills, feeding their family, supposed to know whether or not the milk they drink comes from a farm where workers stab pitchforks into animals' bodies?
Here are a few faces of the dairy industry from the sanctuary:
Nicholas. He is a male dairy calf. They don't produce milk. They are sent to auction and sold for $3-15. Farmers do not make money off of them. They are raised for veal or backyard slaughter.
Sadie developed mastitis when she was 5. Very common on dairy farms. Not so common on cow-calf operations raising calves for beef. Producing too much milk has some negative consequences for the animals. Mastitis is one of the primary reasons dairy cows are sent to slaughter. She's 12. We treated her mastitis. So far, she's exceeded the dairy farm cow's life span by 7 years. She never nursed or groomed her calves. When the calves arrived from auction, she was in mom heaven.
Summer and Freedom, two more male dairy calves. They exhibited abnormal and stereotypic behaviors commonly seen in maternal deprivation and social iso studies involving cattle - cross-suckling, inappropriate nursing, compromised immune system, etc. They turn one in a few days. I remember holding them the day we rescued them from auction. They were so small and frail. The workers used paddles to move them along, even though they could have easily been picked up. They are not so small anymore. :)
And now back to your normal programming. ;)
