Canada: Elite Services claim they have zero tolerance for animal torture and abuse, but how many secret videos have to be released before these guys accept that it's a culture of abuse that's permitted to thrive at companies like this?

CANADA --  A company responsible for catching chickens at farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley says it has fired five employees after an animal rights group released video of alleged abuse.

Dwayne Dueck, president of Elite Services based in Chilliwack, says in a statement the company is taking “immediate corrective action” and one of the fired employees was a supervisor.

“Elite Services understands the importance of ensuring the proper care and handling of animals. Proper handling techniques help maintain production quality and effectively reduce stress on the animals,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday.

“We are sickened with the footage and want to ensure all our suppliers and producers that this is not reflective of who we are, our fundamental beliefs or behaviour we accept from our employees.”

The SPCA in British Columbia has launched a formal investigation.

Lindsay Wolf, vice-president of investigations with the group Mercy For Animals, says the abuses were captured by a whistleblower working for the company that supplies services at more than a dozen factory farms in the Fraser Valley.

Wolf said the birds were slaughtered at a plant in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam before they were shipped to Loblaws and Loblaws-owned stores.

“The shocking video footage we obtained showed workers hitting, kicking and throwing birds, and smashing them into walls and transport crates,” Wolf said in a conference call from Toronto.

“Birds are run over by forklifts and crushed by transport machinery.”

It wants grocery giant Loblaws to ensure the welfare of animals in its supply chain.

Loblaws said it is investigating.

“We stand firmly behind the standards set by the National Farm Animal Care Council, the policies outlined by the Chicken Farmers of Canada, and our own commitment to animal welfare which is clearly articulated in our supplier code of conduct, and in our animal welfare principles,” it said in a statement.

“We continue to work with industry partners and animal welfare experts to ensure standards and codes of practice are upheld so our customers can remain confident in the food they buy.”

Loblaws said it has told its supplier, Ontario-based Sofina Foods Inc., that it has “zero tolerance for any kind of animal abuse.”

Sofina said it has reviewed the “horrifying footage” allegedly taken of the company it contracted to catch chickens at its facilities in British Columbia and it is “appalled and extremely shocked” by it.

“Ethical and responsible treatment of animals is of utmost importance to our organization,” it said.

“We are taking immediate steps with our supplier to initiate a comprehensive investigation of the situation and have engaged internal and external expertise to help us determine proper course of action in line with our animal care commitment and expectations.”

The whistleblower, who is a volunteer with Mercy For Animals, was hired by Elite Services and witnessed abuse soon after being hired, Wolf alleged, adding a hidden camera was used to capture the video.

SPCA spokeswoman Marcie Moriarty said its investigation started after the society received undercover video, which she said was shot by the animal advocacy group between May 10 and June 9.

“The video includes some of the most brutal and sadistic acts of violence against animals I have ever seen,” she said. “It is extremely difficult to watch.”

Investigators with the SPCA are working on a report that will be forwarded to Crown counsel.

Moriarty said they will recommend multiple charges of animal cruelty under both the Criminal Code and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. She said convictions carry a fine of up to $75,000, a maximum five-year prison sentence and possible bans for life from owning or being around animals.

VIDEO (WARNING GRAPHIC ABUSE SHOWN):

(CFJC Today - June 13, 2017)

Australia: Poultry farmer filmed tossing LIVE chickens into a dumpster with dead ones to be gassed to death

AUSTRALIA -- A chicken farm in Perth is facing allegations of animal abuse after a potential customer stumbled upon the staff at the facility disposing of live chickens in a skip bin.

Luke Mace, 26, went to Forrestdale Farm Fresh Eggs on Monday to purchase some laying hens, but instead he found a staff member throwing live chickens into the bin.

The RSPCA have received the video and are
 investigating animal cruelty complaints

Joe Sacca, the owner of the facility says the disposal is general practice and a form of euthanasia, but Mr Mace disagrees.

'I think it is absolutely horrific and disgusting,' Mr Mace told Seven News.

A would-be customer of Forrestdale Farm Fresh Eggs
in Perth has witnessed the disposal of live chickens,
and says their treatment is cruel

Mr Mace says he was drawn to the disposal bin by a smell he described as similar to an ‘animal rotting on the side of the road’.

He looked in the bin and saw ‘dead chickens with live chickens rotting’.

Mr Mace was horrified so took a video on his phone and reported the incident to the RSPCA.

The gnarly footage shows a handful of chickens being tossed into the bin by their feet.

Luke Mace filmed the incident and says live chickens
were thrown on top of dead ones in a skip bin

It also reveals a bin full of thin-feathered birds, some which appear to be dead, others still flapping around.

Farmer Joe Sacca said the disposal method is ‘euthanasia’.

‘They are put in there for about half an hour of three quarters of an hour,' he told Nine News.

Farmer Joe Sacca says the disposal is
euthanasia and general farming practice

‘Once the first layer goes in they get gassed.’

Mr Mace was told that the old chickens were being disposed of to ‘make room’ for younger chickens.

The RSPCA have confirmed they are investigating the complaint.

(Daily Mail - May 24, 2016)

Tennessee: Tyson Foods Slammed AGAIN By Mercy For Animals' Hidden-Camera Video Exposing Sickening Animal Abuse

Let me preface this article by saying I eat meat, eggs, etc. I eat a lot of chicken. I don't know what the solution is... when more than 8 BILLION chickens are slaughtered each year just in the United States alone, how can anyone possibly get the government to crack down on these producers and companies? Maybe the answer is that we, as individuals, make small changes in our daily lives -- pay more for true 'free range' eggs and chicken and simply eat them less often. I just bought a big package of boneless chicken breasts yesterday and, after watching this video, want to cry. Why can't we simply treat the animals we're going to eat humanely before killing them??

TENNESSEE -- Mercy For Animals exposes horrific animal cruelty and neglect at Tyson Foods in a new video, available today at www.TysonTorturesAnimals.com.

The video shows thousands of baby birds bred to grow so fast they became crippled under their own weight, workers carelessly kicking, clubbing, and throwing chickens, and thousands of severely sick and injured animals left to suffer without proper veterinary care or access to food and water.

 

These chickens should be called Franken-chickens. This chicken
is still alive and can be seen breathing and blinking in the video.

Mercy For Animals is calling on Tyson to swiftly adopt meaningful animal welfare policies to end many of the worst forms of animal abuse in its supply chain. Tyson Foods is the largest poultry producer in the world.

Most of the video was shot within the past few weeks at a Tyson contract farm in Lewisburg, Tennessee, but it also includes footage from multiple Mercy For Animals investigations within the past year at Tyson factory farms and slaughterhouses across the country.

 

These birds are alive and seen breathing and blinking in the video

The disturbing video—part of a major campaign to convince Tyson executives to end the company's cruelest practices—reveals widespread animal abuse and suffering, including the following:

• Workers violently clubbing animals to death, breaking their necks, and leaving severely sick and injured animals to die without food or water
• Baby birds carelessly thrown to the ground from transport crates suffering broken bones and other severe injuries
• Chickens bred to grow so fast they became crippled under their own weight and frequently died from heart attacks and organ failure
• Hundreds of thousands of birds crammed into filthy, windowless sheds forced to live in their own waste and toxic ammonia fumes

 

Mercy For Animals is calling on Tyson Foods to implement meaningful animal welfare requirements for all of its company-owned and contract farms and slaughterhouses, including providing birds with more space, clean litter, access to natural light, and environmental enrichments, and replacing live-shackle slaughter methods with less cruel systems that eliminate the horrific suffering caused by dumping, shackling, shocking, and slitting the throats of conscious animals.

 

This woman asks, "You don't work for PETA do you?" right before
she slams this metal pole onto a chicken and hooks it. You then
see that there is a giant nail attached to the end of the pole. She then
uses the hook to toss the chicken - WHICH IS STILL ALIVE -
into a bucket. She then slams the pole onto another poor bird.

"Tyson Foods is literally torturing chickens to death," said Nathan Runkle, president of Mercy For Animals. "They are crammed into filthy, windowless sheds; thrown, kicked, and brutalized by careless workers; and bred to grow so fast they suffer from painful leg deformities and heart attacks.

 

 

"This is sickening animal abuse no company with morals should support. Tyson Foods has not only the power, but also the ethical responsibility to end the worst forms of animal cruelty in its supply chain."

To view the undercover video, visit www.TysonTorturesAnimals.com.

(PR Newswire - May 25, 2016)

Judge orders the state of Idaho to cover lawyer’s fees in ‘ag-gag’ case

IDAHO -- A federal judge has ordered Idaho to pay roughly a quarter million dollars in legal fees to the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other groups who successfully sued the state over what they called the “ag-gag” law.

Idaho lawmakers passed the law making it a crime to surreptitiously videotape agriculture operations in 2014 after the state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that videos of cows being tortured and abused at a southern Idaho dairy unfairly hurt their businesses.

  

 

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the state, and in 2015 a federal court invalidated the law after finding that it violated the First Amendment.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ordered the state to pay the winning side roughly $250,000 to cover their attorney fees and costs.

 

(BC Democrat - May 19, 2016)

California: Gabriel Cevallos, 24, charged with animal cruelty for torturing birds at Foster Farms slaughterhouse

CALIFORNIA -- The Fresno County District Attorney's office has filed animal cruelty charges, against a former employee of Foster Farms.

According to a statement, Gabriel Cevallos, 24, was charged with a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, in connection to allegations that he physically mistreated several chickens at a Foster Farms processing plant, in March of 2015.

The allegations reportedly came to light, when a video recording of the incident was made public.

According to officials, Cevallos is facing a year in jail, as well as a five-year animal ownership or possession ban, if convicted.

(Your Central Valley - March 4, 2016)

Owner of Deese Farms says he had no clue that his employee Danny Cajija Miranda, 22, was torturing and killing chickens for fun

IDAHO -- A Richmond County farmer is refuting allegations from an animal rights group claiming he knew of alleged abuse going on inside his chicken houses that led to felony charges being filed against one of his employees earlier this week.

Tommy Deese Sr., owner of Deese Farms outside Rockingham, told the Daily Journal on Thursday that the first time he was made aware of any abuse was when Sgt. Bryan Beach from the animal control division of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office came out to investigate a complaint filed by Vandhana Bala, general counsel for LosAngeles-based Mercy for Animals on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Matt Rice, director of investigations for the organization, the investigator began working at Deese Farms and Hideaway Farms for an undercover operation on Oct. 30, leaving the farm on Dec. 4. He said the video, posted to the group’s YouTube channel Wednesday afternoon, was shot at both farms.

“It’s pretty horrific video footage that we gathered there,” he said by phone, while in Raleigh for one of two press conferences in the state on Thursday.

The video appears to show several chickens being stomped to death and one being hurled against a wall, as well as chickens in poor health and at least one that had a heart attack from rapid growth.

Danny Cajija Miranda, 22, was arrested Tuesday on four felony counts of cruelty to animals for “maliciously” killing chickens. He is also facing a misdemeanor cruelty charge for allegedly striking a small dog.

“Our investigator also reported the abuse to the owner weeks ago, and observed no corrective actions taken,” Rice said. “They acknowledged Miranda had treated animals that way in the past, yet allowed him to continue working there.”

Deese said that claim is false.

“I’ll put my hand on the Bible to that — nobody ever told me about any abuse,” he said. “We do not tolerate any of that. We’ve been trained by Perdue how to kill ‘em. If I’d known he was doing anything like that, we’d have fired him long ago.”

Deese, who is also on the Richmond Soil and Water District Board of Supervisors, said he hasn’t even been down to the chicken houses in several weeks because he is recovering from an ankle operation.

“That’s one thing we’ve always done is take care of our animals,” he said, adding that he was always stressing the welfare of the birds, including temperature and air quality.

The farm, which has served as a contract grower for Perdue Farms Inc. since 1992, has had its contract suspended by the company until an internal investigation is complete.

“We’re completely shut down now — we can’t do anything,” Deese said of his operation, which includes himself, his son Tommy Deese Jr. and one full-time and one part-time worker.

“Why would you have done something to stop your whole livelihood, your family farm, from being interrupted?” he said. “It just don’t make sense. You wouldn’t put up with it.”

Included in links provided to the media is a video appearing to show the unnamed whistleblower speaking with Deese on Nov. 7. The whistleblower shows a copy of that weekend’s edition of the Daily Journal as proof of date. A photo of a check from Deese — dated Nov. 5 in the amount of $400 — is also provided to show employment.

Another video provided to the media appears to show the whistleblower attempting to call the Perdue hotline on his cellphone Dec. 3 to report the abuse, but to no avail. Rice said the number went to a fax machine.

“We thank Mercy for Animals for uncovering clear animal abuse by an individual on a farm raising our chickens, and we appreciate law enforcement’s prompt action against the perpetrator,” Julie DeYoung, spokeswoman for Perdue, said in an email Thursday morning. “This also demonstrates that we need to improve our oversight, training and practices around day-to-day care of our animals.”

In regard to the hotline, she said there was apparently an error in the phone number listed in materials provided during poultry welfare training, adding the correct number has been communicated to live production personnel and contract farms.

DeYoung said Mercy for Animals and Perdue both share the goals of preventing animal abuse and of improving poultry care.

“As a company, Perdue is committed to continuous improvement, and as with our journey toward being the leader in ‘No Antibiotics Ever,’ we are actively seeking to improve the way we raise chickens,” she said.

Nathan Runkle, president of Mercy for Animals, said in a Thursday statement that animal cruelty is “business as usual” at Perdue.

“Chickens are crammed into filthy, windowless sheds, kicked and thrown by careless workers and bred to grow so fast they suffer from painful leg deformities and heart attack,” he said. “Perdue has not only the power, but also the ethical responsibility to end the worst forms of cruelty to animals in its supply chain. It’s time Perdue took real steps to prevent the suffering of millions of animals.”

According to DeYoung, the company is doing just that.

She said Perdue recently created a new vice president position, chief animal welfare officer and farm family advocate, appointing 31-year company veteran Mike Levengood to that position.

“Mike is leading our efforts to improve animal care and to develop closer relationships with the farmers who care for those animals,” DeYoung said. “We are currently evaluating many of the practices that Mercy for Animals highlights, including lighting and enrichments.”

HERE ILLEGALLY?

According to an arrest report, Miranda is a citizen of Mexico.

Bryan Cox, regional spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed Thursday that ICE has issued an immigration detainer on the defendant.

According to the American Immigration Council, an immigration detainer “is a tool used by ICE and other Department of Homeland Security officials to identify potentially deportable individuals who are housed in jails or prisons nationwide.” Detainers can be placed on legal immigrants as well as unauthorized immigrants.

Cox could not verify Miranda’s legal status.

Deese said Miranda produced a document from the Internal Revenue Service to pay taxes when he was hired last winter, adding that there have been no problems with the IRS Form 1099 that was filed. The 1099 forms are tax returns for independent contractors.

An immigration detainer does not supersede the criminal justice system. Once Miranda goes through the process — whether or not he is convicted — federal officials have requested that the sheriff’s office contact them upon his release and hold him for 48 hours.

If ICE or DHS has not picked up Miranda within that time, he is required to be released.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

(Your Daily Journal - Dec 10, 2015)

Employees of Texas Daisy Farms (Daisy Sour Cream) seen beating baby cows

TEXAS --  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is accusing a local dairy farm of animal abuse.

The organization sent an undercover investigator to look into allegations made by a former employee in May. That employee worked for Daisy Farms for over a year.

The PETA undercover investigator captured video of the animals while working at Daisy Farms in Paris over the summer.



The video shows a worker kicking a calf in the head. Daisy Farms says that employee was terminated after their management team conducted an investigation over the matter.

PETA says other complaints brought to management were ignored. They claim the animals were not properly cared for after suffering and abuse claims were reported to management onsite.

"The abuse and the neglect was repeatedly brought to the attention of the manager onsite at the farm and it is he himself who rejected requests to call a veterinarian," said Dan Paden, PETA Associate Director of Evidence Analysis.

"PETA also documented that workers force-fed the calves milk so carelessly that some aspirated the fluid and drowned. Workers punched, jabbed, kicked, and twisted the tails of cows— even those who were in labor— and no veterinarian was ever seen or said to be caring for some cows whose tails had been severed. Used-up cows were sent off to slaughter."

Daisy Farms' Ben Sokolsky released the following statement regarding the video footage and allegations:

"There is no question the video PETA presented shocks and greatly disappoints me, the management team and the entire employee base at Daisy Farms. I would like to unequivocally state that this video is not a representation of who we are and does not represent how we feel animals should be treated.

"Our management team regularly reviews our practices and procedures, and in light of this video footage, we have engaged a third party audit firm to investigate and evaluate our operations and policies related to animal welfare and identify where we can improve.

  

"The mission of Daisy Farms is to milk healthy and happy cows. It is what we believe in as individuals and collectively as an organization."

Ben, you've got to come up with something better than that... oh, you're "disappointed". After all of these undercover videos have come out over the years, why don't you have surveillance cameras in all your barns? Let these employees know they are being watched ALL THE TIME - just like in a bank! Why is that so hard to do??

The Lamar County Sheriff's Department is investigating.

(KXII-TV - ‎Oct 13, 2015‎)

Related:

• Daisy Sour Cream and Cottage Cheese: Calves Torn From Their Mothers, Sick and Struggling to Breathe

Dairy farmer Michael Whitelock guilty of sadistic cruelty to cows

AUSTRALIA -- Cows were beaten, had their tails broken and were shot in the kneecaps on a West Coast farm under the management of a farmer facing a likely jail sentence.

Michael James Whitelock pleaded guilty in Greymouth District Court on Monday to 12 charges, including ill treatment of animals, unlawful possession of firearms and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He was bailed to his home in Timaru until sentencing on October 7.

Whitelock was the dairy manager for a Landcorp farm near Westport from July 2012 until his suspension in September 2013. A Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation began that month after a Landcorp manager arranged for a vet to examine the herd.

Of the 1100 animals, 152 cows and 57 heifers had broken tails. The vet told investigators that he had never seen the number of animals with broken tails as he found at the Totara Dairy Unit on Cape Foulwind.

MPI said tail breaking was a process where tails were deliberately twisted to force cows into a milking shed. The pain is likened to that felt by a person having their fingers broken.

Investigators found the mistreatment of animals was widespread on the farm under Whitelock's management.

One cow due to be euthanized was walked to the offal pit where Whitelock gave a single-barrel shotgun to an employee and instructed him to shoot the cow in the legs. Whitelock and three employees each fired one shot at the cow's legs before it was euthanised.

Some time in late July or early August 2013, Whitelock and farm assistant Cameron Hurst chased a cow, pulled her to the ground by her tail then proceeded to punch and kick the animal.

When the herd was being inspected, Whitelock tried to have the injured animal removed. The Landcorp manager later found the animal's body half buried in an area of bush on the farm.

Hurst was sentenced to community detention in January for his part in the cruelty.

MPI said Whitelock beat another cow with a fencing baton, which resulted in a traumatic eye injury. Whitelock then tried to euthanize the animal but failed and ended up putting her in the offal pit while she was still alive.

On a number of occasions, Whitelock apparently lost his temper after cows kicked off their milking cups. He knocked one cow over by sweeping her legs away and struck another on the legs with a kick bar so hard that he broke the bar. On another occasion he repeatedly punched a cow in the udder, which left her bleeding.

Whitelock instructed an employee to walk a cow with an injured hoof and possibly a broken leg two kilometres to the offal pit.

During the MPI investigation, Whitelock was also found in possession of firearms and ammunition despite not having a firearms licence. During a search of his Timaru property in December 2013, ammunition was found unsecured in Whitelock's children's bedroom.

He was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by contacting witnesses to ask them to cover up for him and placing blame on other farm workers.

Judge Stephen O'Driscoll convicted Whitelock on all 12 charges and remanded him on bail until sentencing on October 7. He told Whitelock that granting him bail "should not be any indication of what the ultimate sentence will be".

(Stuff NZ - Aug 3, 2015)

New Mexico: Chaves Co. dairy workers charged after undercover cow abuse video

NEW MEXICO -- Four dairy workers have been charged with animal cruelty in connection to an animal activist group's undercover video showing the abuse of cows  at Winchester Dairy in Chaves County last fall.

According to court documents, Cesar Morales-Iniguez and Stephen Toublefield are each facing three counts, Luis Urbie Lira is facing two counts and Jesus Espinoza is charged with one count of animal cruelty.

"Mercy for Animals," the group behind the video, says an undercover investigator filmed workers punching, kicking, whipping and even shocking cows' genitals. The group also filmed workers dragging cows with tractors.

Mercy for Animals said the Winchester Dairy cows were denied veterinary care.

The dairy fired all employees and identified the alleged offenders in the video to law enforcement, according to the Associated Press.

Winchester Dairy produces milk for Leprino Foods, the world's largest producer of mozzarella cheese and a supplier to major pizza chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's.

Last Monday, Leprino Foods announced a new animal welfare policy for its dairy suppliers.

By Dec. 31, 2016, all suppliers must keep a safe and sanitary environment, provide pain relief during disbudding/dehorning and give appropriate veterinary care to animals.

(KOB 4 Albuquerque - Apr 30, 2015)

Farmer jailed after starving pigs ate each other alive

UNITED KINGDOM -- ONE of Ireland's biggest pig farmers was jailed for 18 months after his starving animals cannibalised each other in what a judge described as "cruelty on an industrial scale".

Rory O'Brien (60) was jailed after admitting he caused unnecessary suffering to his pigs - which had eaten each other alive, with some feeding off dead animals in their pens.

Other animals were found badly injured while some filthy pig units were overrun by rats.

O'Brien, whose north Cork pig unit handled up to 20,000 animals, now owes €22m to the banks with Cork Circuit Criminal Court told his finances are "absolutely catastrophic".

The father-of-five pleaded guilty to a number of animal cruelty charges.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain said he had "never come across anything like this before. This was cruelty on an industrial scale. This is a different league altogether.

"He openly defied them (the Department of Agriculture). What brazenness in the context of the evidence," he said as he noted that O'Brien had even written to inspectors insisting his farm met the highest standards.

On one occasion, a Department of Agriculture inspector felt so threatened by O'Brien she had to call the gardaí.

On another occasion, an inspector became upset at workmen watering plants in the garden while pigs inside the shed suffered in May heat without adequate food and water.

One pig had an untreated abscess the size of a small football on its leg.

O'Brien of Killicane, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, admitted five animal welfare charges.

They ranged from May 3 to September 8 2011 and involved animals left injured or, in one sample case, eaten alive.

Inspector John McConville of the Department of Agriculture's special investigations unit said the welfare issues were entirely about management and not money. "It was very bad management. This should not have been happening," he said.

Rory O'Brien ranked as one of the largest-scale pig farmers in Ireland.

He waged a high-profile campaign against the closure by Dairygold of its Galtee Meats plant in Mitchelstown in 2007.

O'Brien's pig operation was four times the size of the average Irish pig farm and employed more than 40 people.

(Irish Independent - Feb 13, 2015)

Kicking, punching and prodding: New video shows horrific abuse of cows at dairy farm which supplies cheese to Papa John's pizza and Dominos

NEW MEXICO -- The New Mexico Livestock Board has launched an investigation into a southern New Mexico dairy after an activist working with an animal welfare group recorded secret video showing workers whipping cows with chains and wire cables, kicking and punching the animals, and shocking them with electric prods.

Board officials confirmed the investigation into the practices at the Winchester Dairy near Dexter on Tuesday. They were working on interviewing the activist and tracking down the workers identified in the video.

'We are investigating it very aggressively. The district attorney is on board and everybody is working hard to make sure we do this right,' said Shawn Davis, an area supervisor with the livestock board.

 

 

Dairy officials have been cooperating since investigators first arrived last Friday, board officials said.

The dairy said in a statement that animal care and well-being are central to its operation. As a result, the dairy fired all employees and referred the abusive workers to law enforcement for further review following its own internal investigation.

The dairy also halted milking operations, stopped shipments to all vendors and dispersed thousands of cows to other dairies with strong track records in animal welfare.

Dairy officials have been cooperating since investigators first arrived last Friday, board officials said.

The dairy said in a statement that animal care and well-being are central to its operation. As a result, the dairy fired all employees and referred the abusive workers to law enforcement for further review following its own internal investigation.

The dairy also halted milking operations, stopped shipments to all vendors and dispersed thousands of cows to other dairies with strong track records in animal welfare.

The Los Angeles-based animal welfare group Mercy for Animals first sent the video footage to the livestock agency last Thursday. It released a compilation of clips that show the abuse during a news conference Wednesday in Albuquerque.

An activist with Mercy for Animals shot the video while working on the farm in August and September. Aside from the whipping, kicking and punching, the video shows calves being tossed into the back of a truck and cows that can't stand being dragged with heavy equipment or lifted with clamps.

The group said the abuses uncovered during its investigations of six separate dairies around the country — including the New Mexico dairy — are all similar.

'So this isn't a matter of a single dairy farm failing to meet industry standards. This is a matter of industry standards allowing for blatant animal abuse,' said Matt Rice, the group's director of investigations. 'That's why we're calling on the industry to make improvements at all of its facilities to prevent this type of abuse.'

 

The Dairy Producers of New Mexico in a statement Wednesday said the industry is committed to animal well-being.

'The actions depicted in the video are unacceptable and do not reflect the daily care and comfort that New Mexico dairy farmers and dairy farmers nationwide provide their cows,' the statement said.

 Mercy for Animals is calling on Denver-based Leprino Foods, which is supplied by the New Mexico dairy and produces cheese for major pizza chains, to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for kicking, punching and shocking cows and require suppliers to provide safe and sanitary environments for the animals.

Leprino Foods said Wednesday it cares about the health and welfare of the animals on the farms that supply the company with milk and that it terminated all shipments from Winchester Dairy.

(Daily Mail - Sept 18, 2014)

No plea deal in Stanislaus County animal cruelty case in which 40,000 chickens were starved to death

CALIFORNIA -- There was no plea deal Thursday, so a preliminary hearing will start later this month in a criminal case of a Stanislaus County egg farm where authorities found an estimated 50,000 hens without feed two years ago. More than 40,000 hens died.

Defendants Andy Yi Keunh Cheung and Lien Tuong Diep have been charged with one felony count of animal cruelty each. Their attorneys appeared in court on their behalf Thursday morning.

In May, Deputy Public Defender Marlon Simon, who represents Diep, told the judge they were hopeful a resolution in the case could be reached with prosecutors by this week.

Instead, Martha Carlton-Magaña, Cheung’s defense attorney, told the judge Thursday that the preliminary hearing is ready to proceed as scheduled Sept. 23.

The preliminary hearing is estimated to last one day. At the hearing’s conclusion, Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff will decide whether there is enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial.

Cheung was the owner of A&L Poultry on South Carpenter Road about a half-mile south of Fulkerth Road, west of Turlock. Public records indicate Diep operated Lucky Transportation Inc., a Ceres-based hauling company for wholesale poultry products.

Animal rights groups said they rescued 4,460 hens that survived, but about 460 of them died afterward because they were too weak or sick. Of the 40,000-plus hens that died, about a third starved, and the rest were euthanized because of their poor condition, according to the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency.

At the time, authorities estimated the birds had not been fed for two weeks. The Animal Services Agency discovered the unfed hens in February 2012 after it received a complaint about the farm.

Carlton-Magaña has said her client did nothing criminal and was practicing within the standards and practices set by the industry. An animal rights activist had made arrangements with A&L Poultry to pick up hens that were intended to be euthanized, according to the defense attorney. But she says the activist didn’t pick up the hens.

Two weeks ago, three animal rights groups settled their civil lawsuit against Cheung and Diep. The defendants agreed to pay $5,000 to the plaintiffs, which helped rescue survivors.

Cheung also agreed not to work with animals in the future, and Diep agreed to limit her work to briefly transporting laying hens for slaughter. The civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary in Stockton; Animal Place, based in Grass Valley; and Farm Sanctuary, which is based in New York state and has a farm in Glenn County, north of Sacramento.

Cheung and Diep remain free on their own recognizance as they await their preliminary hearing.

(Modesto Bee - Sept 4, 2014)

Eaton man pleads guilty to abusing dairy calves

COLORADO -- The second of three men who face charges of abusing dairy calves at a Weld County livestock operation on Friday pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals.

The Weld District Attorney’s Office in November charged Ernesto Daniel Valenzuela-Alvarez, 34, as well as Tomas Cerda 33, and Larry Loma, 32, with misdemeanor animal abuse after a video surfaced that apparently showed them kicking, dragging and throwing young calves while working at Quanah Cattle Co. near Kersey.

The Quanah Cattle Co. facility is located near Kersey, 55 miles northeast of Denver.

 

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke previously expressed “shock” when he saw the video and said the behavior was “totally unacceptable,” adding that in 20 years on a dairy farm earlier in his life he never saw animals handled that way.

Valenzuela-Alvarez of Eaton pleaded guilty on Friday — nearly a month after requesting additional time to consult with an attorney.

Cerda, who pleaded guilty in January, was scheduled for sentencing Feb. 21, but a clerical error forced that to be postponed.

Both Cerda and Valenzuela-Alvarez are due for sentencing on April 29.

Loma is scheduled to appear for a status update on his case April 3.

(Greeley Tribune - Mar 2, 2014)

Earlier:

• Three ugly slugs who abused baby cows charged with animal cruelty
• 1 Of 3 Charged In Calf Abuse Case Pleads Guilty

1 Of 3 Charged In Calf Abuse Case Pleads Guilty

COLORADO -- One of three men charged with abusing cattle in Northern Colorado has pleaded guilty. That abuse was caught on undercover video.

The three suspects in the case are Larry Loma, Tomas Cerda and Ernesto Daniel Valenzuela-Alvarez.

Tuesday morning, Cerda pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

The Quanah Cattle Co. facility is located near Kersey, 55 miles northeast of Denver.

Last fall an investigation at the facility began after the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing released undercover video of the calves being kicked, dragged, thrown and lifted by their tails.

The operation purchases Holstein calves from local dairies, raises the steers until they reach about 300 pounds and sells them to feed yards. Heifers are sold back to dairies when they reach the right age.

Valenzuela-Alvarez used a translator in court to ask the judge for more time to hire an attorney.

He told CBS4 he had nothing to say about the animal cruelty charges.

Loma has hired an attorney and is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial conference next month.

(CBS Denver - Jan 21, 2014)

Earlier:

• Three ugly slugs who abused baby cows charged with animal cruelty
• Illegal 'ag gag' in effect in Colorado as woman who shot undercover footage of abused calves is hit with cruelty charges

Illegal 'ag gag' in effect in Colorado as woman who shot undercover footage of abused calves is hit with cruelty charges

COLORADO -- An investigation into a cattle company near Kersey has led to several people being cited for animal abuse, including the animal activist who turned video footage of the alleged abuse over to authorities.

Taylor Radig, who has been associated with animal rights organization Compassion Over Killing, worked as a temporary employee at Quanah Cattle Co. near Kersey from mid-July to September 2013.

During that time, Radig filmed hours of alleged cattle abuse at the company and turned her videos into the Weld County Sheriff’s Office two months after she stopped working there, according to a WCSO news release.

When talking to investigators, Radig referred to herself as a “contractor” for the nonprofit animal advocacy organization, which is based in Washington, D.C.

By not reporting the alleged abuse in a timely manner, Radig was seen as negligent and cited for animal cruelty, a Class 1 misdemeanor. She’s also believed to have participated in the cattle abuse incidents reported to the sheriff’s office, the news release said.

Three suspects from Quanah Cattle Co. have also been contacted, interviewed and issued summons for animal cruelty charges.

In a post on Compassion Over Killing’s website, the organization says an “undercover investigator” associated with Compassion Over Killing “worked inside” Quanah Cattle Company, producing footage of calves being “violently dragged by their legs, pulled by their ears, lifted by their tails, kicked, thrown, slammed, and flipped” while being moved off trucks.

In a response to the animal abuse charge against Radig, Erica Meier, the executive director of Compassion Over Killing, called the action against Radig “unsupported by the law,” and a “shoot-the-messenger strategy aimed at detracting attention away from the crimes of those who actually abused animals.”

“The Weld County Sheriff’s Office has chosen to retaliate against the individual who witnessed, documented and reported the callous mistreatment of newborn calves,” Meier said in an email.

“Merely witnessing others abusing animals is not a crime, and our investigator (Radig) was working cooperatively with local authorities on this case prior to this baseless accusation.”

The facility is owned by J.D. Heiskell & Co. of Tulare, Calif. J.D. Heiskell’s board chairman, Scot Hillman, said in a written statement the company was dismayed by the video and is cooperating with authorities.
“Both J.D. Heiskell and Quanah expect the proper and humane treatment of animals handled at the Quanah facility. We are in the process of investigating to determine the facts of this situation,” the statement said. The company plans to improve training and supervision, according to its statement.
Kersey is east of Greeley in Weld County.

(The Coloradoan - Nov 22, 2013)

Earlier:

• Three ugly slugs who abused baby cows charged with animal cruelty