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Abuse at Conklin Dairy Farms, not an anomaly

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

I think by now everyone has seen or at least heard about the 4 minute undercover investigation video released by Mercy for Animals earlier this week. Workers at Conklin Dairy Farms in Ohio engaged in sadistic abuse of the animals they are paid to care for. Calves having their heads stomped on, diary cows tied and then beaten in the head with crowbars, cows having their udders stabbed with pitch forks…

What industry allows employees to get away with this? Imagine an employee at a grocery store stomping on perfectly good tomatoes. They would be fired on the spot. But what if the tomatoes were too rotten to be sold? I suppose then, the employee might get away with it. Perhaps the manager would even join in on one particularly frustrating or boring day at work. I think this is precisely what happened at 4th generation, family-operated, Conklin Dairy Farms.

In the undercover video footage, you see Conklin employee Billy Gregg bragging to his new co-worker (the undercover investigator) about abusing a cow that was being sent to slaughter because her inflamed udders would not allow her to produce any more milk:

“we beat the fuck out of this cow, we stabbed her, I broke her tail in three place, kept stabbing her ass. Beat her. Next day Gary says, “we’re gonna send her to beef” Cuz she had mastitis and all. Couldn’t get her in the parlor. I drugged that cow. I beat that fucker until her face was like this big around”.

In an industry that treats sentient animals like production units and commodities, a dairy cow with mastitis is as good as a rotten tomato at a grocery store. And since there are about as many laws protecting a rotten tomato as a unproductive dairy cow, you can do whatever you like with them.

In the days following the release of the footage, the agriculture community in Ohio denounced the activities that had taken place at the farm and blamed it on one bad apple, Billy Gregg. He was charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty and has been jailed. Under current Ohio animal cruelty law, Billy will not be charged with any felonies, just misdemeanors. Before you start trashing the hillbilly Americans and their backwards law system, please note that Canadian animal cruelty laws are about the same – if not worse.

The owner Gary Conklin said in a statement, “The video shows animal care that is clearly inconsistent with the high standards we set for our farm and its workers, and we find the specific mistreatment shown on the video to be reprehensible and unacceptable”. Ironically, Gary Conklin was one of the guys shown kicking a downed cow in the video (at 1:26).

Everyone in the small Ohio farming community is putting on a fabulous display of outrage by vocally denouncing Billy Gregg’s actions and painting him as a psychologically disturbed criminal who acted alone. But no one else shown on the video has been charged with animal cruelty and the dairy farm has not been shut down.

It is clear that the community’s attempt at denouncing animal cruelty is disingenuous. If there really is a culture that rallied around good husbandry and condemned deliberate acts of abuse against the farm animals, why did Billy Gregg feel so comfortable bragging to a newly hired employee (the undercover investigator) about all the egregious acts of cruelty? If it wasn’t a socially accepted practice, why did he do it in front of his coworkers and why did the owner take part in the abuse? It is apparent that the precedent set by the culture around Billy Gregg is that abusing animals is tolerated, accepted and even celebrated.

Billy Gregg in court (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

What happened at Conklin Dairy Farms is not an isolated incident by any means. Every time an animal rights group hires an investigator to go to a randomly selected farm they come back with more than they set out to get. Even without any of the abuse shown in the 4 minute footage, Mercy for Animals would have obtained footage that documented the systematic abuse of dairy cows who are kept constantly pregnant, suffering from chronic mastitis and the killing or disposal of new born calves.

The animal agriculture industry is mostly self-regulated and it is obvious that this system is not working out. This November, people in Ohio will have the opportunity to vote for a ban on some of the worst practices in animal agriculture. It is true that the proposed law will not stop the abuses documented at Conklin Dairy Farms, but it will ensure that the animals on farms will have the bare minimum, such as the ability to turn around, stretch their limbs and spread their wings. It is not much too ask for, but even so, there is strong opposition from the farming community against the initiative to give farm animals just enough room to stretch their limbs. In fact, they are spending millions of dollars to make sure that this initiative does not pass. It really makes me wonder why anyone in animal agriculture would think Billy Gregg is a psychopath.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Responses »
Tags: animal abuse, Conklin Dairy Farms, cows, dairy, factory farming, Farm Sanctuary, mercy for animals, Ohio, veal

Just one week to Mother’s Day! Do you have your Cow Ribbon?

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

3 weeks ago the Mother’s Day Cow Ribbon campaign was launched. Since then we’ve mailed out ribbons to people all over Canada and the United States and as far away as the UK, Singapore, and Australia. People everywhere want to speak out for dairy cows this Mother’s Day.

And for good reason.

Dairy cows lose babies every year, one after the other, until the premature and horrible end of their life. Those babies never get to know their mothers. And their mothers never get to know their babies.

Send a Mother’s Day ecard

Change your facebook profile picture to one of these special graphics

Tell your friends about the Cow Ribbon

Share this on Twitter

Wear your cow ribbon on Mother’s Day (May 9) and show your support for the mothers of the dairy industry. The goal is to have hundreds of people wearing ribbons on Mother’s Day and thousands of people getting ecards, reading messages on facebook, and more.

This mother’s day, wear your cow ribbon as a symbol of your concern for these suffering and abused mothers. Please take a stand and speak out for them. Every mother deserves to know and love her children, don’t you think?

The Cow Ribbon campaign has been written up in a few blogs you might want to check out:

About.com Animal Rights blog: “Cow Ribbon for Mother’s Day”
http://animalrights.about.com/b/2010/04/29/cow-ribbon-for-mothers-day.htm

Our Hen House: “Cow Ribbon. Brilliant.”
http://www.ourhenhouse.com/2010/04/cow-ribbon-brilliant

Striking at the Roots: “Campaign Raises Awareness About Forgotten Mothers”
http://strikingattheroots.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/campaign-raises-awareness-about-forgotten-mothers/

bjorkedoff: “Today Is Brought to You By the Letter ‘C’-Cow Ribbons,
Canadians, Cookies, Coffee, Coffee Cake!, Chocolates, Carrot Cake Ice Cream,
Candle 79, Cinnamon,ETC”
http://bjorkedoff.blogspot.com/2010/04/today-is-brought-to-you-by-letter-c-cow.html

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: cows, dairy, Mother's Day, mothers

The meat industry doesn’t care about you or the animals

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Pigs waiting to be auctioned

The more I learn about the industries that exploit animals to be used for food, the more I realize that there is simply no concern for the animals or even for the humans who consume the meat of those animals.

Erik Marcus linked me to an article Martha Rosenberg has just written about the drug ractopamine, which is used in pigs and cattle as they near slaughter to increase weight gain. Ractopamine was originally developed as an asthma medication, and there is no period of time when the animals are taken off of the drug before slaughter.

While researchers and scientists investigate the cause of our diabetes, obesity, asthma and ADHD epidemics, they should ask why the FDA approved a livestock drug banned in 160 nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in pigs, according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer.

The beta agonist ractopamine, a repartitioning agent that increases protein synthesis, was recruited for livestock use when researchers found the drug, used in asthma, made mice more muscular says Beef magazine.

But unlike the growth promoting antibiotics and hormones used in livestock which are withdrawn as the animal nears slaughter, ractopamine is started as the animal nears slaughter. (Source)

And this isn’t just a mild antibiotic. In fact, people are warned to wear gloves and masks if they might come in contact with it:

How does a drug marked, “Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask” become “safe” in human food? With no washout period? (Source)

In the US, ractopamine is approved for use in pigs, cattle, and turkeys. But wait, you say, we wouldn’t allow a drug like this to be used in Canada! Sorry to disappoint, but Canada is on the same pharmaceutical train as the US, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has approved ractopamine use in pigs and cattle.

Roctopamine is known to cause increased stress in animals and increases the likelihood that animals will arrive as downers at the slaughterhouse. But, even if the death rate increases, the weight gains from the use of ractopamine are great enough that it’s a net benefit to the farmer.

But at a cost of increased suffering for all of the animals, not to mention increased human health risk. Since the drug is given to animals up to the point of being shipped off to slaughter, who knows how much ends up getting washed into groundwater or how much remains in the meat when it is sold?

What’s striking to me is that China and Taiwan have banned the use of ractopamine because of its health risks. They won’t even allow meat into the country that contains traces of the drug. in 2007 a shipment of pig meat from a slaughterhouse in Canada was found to contain ractopamine, and they banned all imports of meat from that slaughterhouse. When China and Taiwan, both countries that have slightly questionable records when it comes to human safety, prohibit the use of a drug because of its health risks, there must be something to it.

And how can you know if the meat you eat has ractopamine in it? Any conventionally raised pigs or cattle may be fed ractopamine. There is no requirement that the farm disclose the use of this drug. It certainly doesn’t make it onto any packaging. How then can anyone make an informed decisions about what (or who) they are eating?

Quite frankly, no matter how carefully we watch the animal exploitation industries (meat, eggs, and dairy included) they are focused on maximizing profit. And the interests of animals and consumers alike are just obstacles to overcome in pursuit of that profit.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Responses »
Tags: cows, disease, food safety, health, meat industry, pigs

Senseless violence on a dairy farm

Friday, January 15th, 2010

A rescued dairy cow, now safe from senseless violence

This Monday, someone stabbed 4 cows on a Comox Valley dairy farm. According to the Comox Valley Echo:

A senseless stabbing attack on four dairy cows at a farm on Dove Creek Road has the Comox Valley RCMP appealing to the public for information.

One of the four cows was so badly injured that she had to be put down, while the other three are expected to recover.

But one of those three cows was pregnant, due in June, and she has now aborted the fetus, likely due to the stress.

The owner of the farm, Barb Milley, is quoted as saying “Who would hurt innocent cows that have no grudge against anybody?”

This is a truly senseless attack on innocent animals. But it’s important to keep in mind that this is a working dairy farm that “has more than 200 cows of all ages and produces about 2,650 litres of milk per day.” So, in answer to Barb’s question, my answer would be: Barb Milley. How many innocent calves has she sent off to slaughter? How many cows has she sent to the slaughterhouse when they are past their prime milk-producing time?

Here’s another part of the story that’s not quite what it seems.

The cow that had to be put down was stabbed on both the left and right hand sides in the soft part of her belly, just like the pregnant cow, but the wounds were bad enough that a five-pin bowling ball-sized portion of her internal organs was outside her body.

She was sent to the slaughterhouse.

Being “put down” is not quite the same as being put on a truck, hauled to a slaughterhouse, getting hit by a captive bolt, hung upside-down, and bled out. What sort of merciful euthanasia is that?

No mention is made in the article that all of these “innocent cows that have no grudge against anybody” are destined for the slaughterhouse, where lots worse than getting stabbed will happen to them. This after having countless babies stolen from them, all so they can be forced into milk production, over and over again. Where’s the story about that? Why aren’t the police talking to Barb Milley about her systemic abuse of innocent animals? Why aren’t we outraged about the crimes committed on her farm every day?

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Responses »
Tags: animal agriculture, cows, dairy, violence

Deadstock

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

"deadstock"

From an Ontario Federation of Agriculture press release:

It’s something every livestock producer knows – if you have livestock on your farm, you are also going to have dead stock.

Safe disposal of that dead stock is increasingly a problem in Ontario for farmers and society.

… farmers are faced with paying a fee for the pick-up and disposal service. Coupled with losing a valuable animal this presents a double-sided hit to the balance sheet.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has been working with the industry to find an acceptable solution that will keep our valuable disposal services in operation, providing farmers with an affordable alternative to on-farm disposal of deadstock. (Source)

Basically, what this means is that they want the government (and, more specifically, the taxpayers) to pick up the tab for disposal of dead animals.

Nevermind that the “dead stock” was a living, feeling, sentient being. To the farmers they are really just a commodity, and the death of an animal is just a “hit against the balance sheet.”

Farmers should have to pay for the full cost of any cleanup that is required due to their keeping and exploiting animals. Otherwise, we do not see the real cost of the meat they are “producing.”

They write: “The industry performs a vital service for Ontario and needs to remain sound.” If by vital they mean putting our health at risk, damaging the environment, and exploiting and killing millions of animals each year, then sure, it’s vital.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: agribusiness, cows, government, subsidies

One million calories.

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

This super interesting new interactive chart from Animal Visuals shows how many animals die for one million calories’ worth of chicken, eggs, beef, veggies, grains, etc. You can sort it by total, by how many are slaughtered (intentionally, I assume?), and by the harvesting of fields, either to feed us or to feed animals.

Isn’t it fascinating that you can help more animals by dropping chicken and eggs than you can by dropping chicken, beef, and pork combined?

This also brings up the age old and ever compelling (yawn) argument against veganism–that we’re hurting animals accidentally when we harvest our fields, so why bother to curtail intentional slaughter at all? I covered this in Arguments Against Veganism, part 3, but this chart says more than I ever could have.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Responses »
Tags: animal rights, arguments, arguments-against-veganism, chickens, cows, pigs

Farm Sanctuary is the best place on earth

Monday, April 27th, 2009

I’m in San Francisco for the Nonprofit Technology Conference (not paid for by Liberation BC), which is always nice. I came a few days early to see an old friend, and the conference started Sunday morning, so I ended up with a completely free Saturday.

In an unusually compulsive act, I decided to rent a car and drive up to Farm Sanctuary to visit for a few hours. It’s a 3-3 1/2 hour drive, but a pretty nice and direct drive.

Our camera is broken, and I don’t know how to get pictures off of my phone, so the pictures I’m including are from my previous trip there 2 years ago. Sorry!

I got up there at about noon. Chatted with Leanne for a little while. She’s amazing. She runs the sanctuary and keeps everything moving along smoothly. I’ve only met a few people who combine a love of animals with such an amazing ability to care for them and the practical skills to manage that many people. You can read some of the animals’ stories on the Farm Sanctuary blog.

I went around the farm and said hello to all the animals. The turkey girls wanted to eat me and were more vocal than I had remembered. If you haven’t ever heard turkeys before, you would be completely astonished at the range of sounds they make. They sound like dogs, birds, seals, and probably a few more animals. They bark, chirp, almost meow. And they wanted to eat my ring. And my fingers…

The chickens are funny, and are much less friendly. They are so wary of strangers. The roosters are still protective, but didn’t try to attack me at all. Even Elton, who can be a real fighter just watched me. I love the way they pretend to be scratching for food, making their way closer to me to keep an eye on me. I love chickens, but they are much harder to relate to than turkeys.

I spent a little while brushing goats. The sheep all stayed away from me, but the goats crowd around to get brushed. After I put the brush back one of them tried to reach it across the fence because he wanted more brushing!

The cows were bigger than I remembered. I was brushing one cow, who must have been a young dairy boy, probably a year or a little more. I could see over his back. But then the full grown dairy cows (and the even larger brahmins) were HUGE. Their shoulders were above my head (and I’m 6 feet tall). One little steer had some scary looking horns, but he seemed nice enough.

Two of my favorites, Bonnie and Waylon, both donkeys, were in the same area as the cattle. They are the calmest, friendliest animals, and they barely ever make a sound. They stand quietly and patiently to be brushed. Their hair is more like fur, and they looked like it was shedding season. Such soft fuzzy fur! They are both pretty old too, something like 20-30 years old. I can’t remember exactly, but they live a long time.

The pigs were all napping since it’s the hottest part of the day. I don’t like to disturb napping pigs. Way too much drama. So I said hi and walked down the path to the duck and geese ponds. There are some new Muscovy ducks there, more than were there the last time. I didn’t find out their stories, but I will try to find out. One looked like he’d been in some sort of confinement situation, and was missing a bunch of feathers. Muscovy’s are funny. They are much quieter than mallards or pekins, and hiss kind of like geese. Geese are like guard dogs, and honk and hiss and anybody who comes near. Not too friendly.

I went over to see my old friends Fergus and Kiwi (both pigs). Fergus is a little pot-belly pig and Kiwi is a half feral pig. Fergus loved his belly rub, flopping right over. Kiwi was covered in mud so I didn’t spend much time with her.

I dropped in on the rabbits and said hello as well. They are quiet, resting in the hot afternoon in the shade. I didn’t want to disturb them (or the ducks who live with them) so I just said hello quietly.

A trip to Farm Sanctuary is a refreshing experience, and gave me a chance to reflect on why I spend so much time advocating for animals. Seeing their faces, spending time with them, helps to reinforce my passion to help them.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Responses »
Tags: chickens, cows, Farm Sanctuary, goats, pigs, rabbits, sanctuaries, turkeys

An (un)pleasant childhood memory

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Something's wrong with this...

When I was young I watched a cow get artificially inseminated. What I remember is that the vet came to our house and put on a shoulder length black rubber glove. He lubricated his arm and then stuck it all the way up the cow’s butt. For some reason I can’t remember clearly past that point.

I’ve been somewhat bothered my by imperfect memory, so I’ve been trying to find a description of this process.

This sounds like it could be it:

In the rectovaginal technique a sterile, disposable catheter containing the thawed semen is inserted into the vagina and then guided into the cervix by means of a gloved hand in the rectum. The inseminating catheter is passed through the spiral folds of the cow’s cervix into the uterus. Part of the semen is deposited just inside the uterus and the remainder in the cervix as the catheter is withdrawn. Expulsion of the semen should be accomplished slowly and deliberately to avoid excessive sperm losses in the catheter.

[source: "Artificial Insemination in Dairy Cattle"]

A little more googling resulted in this video.

I’m not sure if this is one of the reasons I eventually adopted a vegan lifestyle, but it probably contributed.

This sort of thing happens to all dairy cows (small farm, large farm, organic, etc), every year, so that they can give birth and continue to produce milk. I guess there’s a little rape in every glass of milk, bite of cheese, or spoonful of yogurt.

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Responses »
Tags: artificial insemination, cows, dairy