Department of Food and Agriculture Tries to Block the Release of Thousands of Records Regarding Deceptive Dairy Campaign
For Immediate Release:
June 15, 2011
Contact:
Ashley Gonzalez 202-483-7382
Sacramento, Calif. — Today, PETA filed suit in Sacramento Superior Court against California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, the CDFA, and the California Milk Advisory Board for making false and misleading advertising claims about the treatment of cows on California dairy farms and for withholding thousands of related documents that PETA believes will expose the extent of their false claims. The complaint alleges that the CDFA and the board have deceived the public by falsely representing to consumers that California's dairy products come from cows who live in a bucolic setting and are "happy," comfortable, and humanely treated. In reality, typical California dairy cows are kept confined on hard, abrasive concrete or manure-laden dirt. They commonly suffer udder infections, painful swollen knees, and hoof disorders such as foot rot, ulcers, and abscesses, resulting in lameness and premature death.
Under California law, the secretary and the CDFA are required to ensure that the milk advisory board does not make baseless marketing claims. However, in response to PETA's public records request for documents relating to the ads, a CDFA six-month search found thousands of records but not a single document that substantiates the board's false marketing claims. PETA is asking the Court to order the CDFA and the milk advisory board to stop running the ads and to turn over all documents responsive to PETA's public records request that are currently being unlawfully withheld by the CDFA on "trade secret" grounds.
"The fact is that California's unhappy cows on dairy factory farms suffer greatly, standing on concrete without a scrap of shade in the heat or up to their hocks in mud in the rain," says PETA's general counsel, Jeffrey Kerr. "If the CDFA and the milk advisory board could make the case that California's cows are happy, they would not hide documents related to that claim—or even go so far as to break the law that guarantees the public's right to see those records."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.