Workers Captured on Camera Burning, Hitting, and Shocking Cows on New York Dairy Farm
For Immediate Release:
June 11, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Albany, N.Y. -- Tuesday's annual Dairy Day promotions will launch on a sour note as Sen. Tony Avella, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, will screen video footage taken at Adirondack Farms, LLC—a dairy farm in Clinton County that supplies Agri-Mark, makers of Cabot and McCadam brand cheeses—showing workers who strike cows with poles, electro-shock them, and burn the horn buds out of a struggling calf's head. The video footage and other findings from PETA's investigation as well as reforms recommended by the senator will be presented at a news conference inside the Capitol on Tuesday.
When: Tuesday, June 12, 11 a.m.
Where: Room 504, Legislative Office Building, New York State Capitol, Albany
Sen. Avella will endorse PETA's demand that Agri-Mark require its members' farms to implement basic reforms that would prevent the worst cruelty from continuing. Agri-Mark has not responded to PETA's demand.
"Agri-Mark has yet to announce taking even the smallest step to improve animal welfare since we released our shocking documentation of cruelty to cows," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "The company should stop painful dehorning, discipline or dismiss all staff who have abused or neglected cows, and prohibit all their suppliers from dragging cattle who are too injured, sick, or lame to stand."
The video shows a calf thrashing as smoke rises from her flesh while her horn buds and surrounding tissue are burned off without anesthetics. A manager also electro-shocks a cow on the face repeatedly. The same manager states that when a cow's uterus prolapses during calving, workers "put [the uterus] back in and hope she lives … long enough for the beef truck to come get her." Even after PETA notified the farm's owners of the abuses, the manager remained on the job as a supervisor.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.