Report rather than record animal cruelty at dairy farms, DFA urges activists

By Mark ASTLEY

- Last updated on GMT

The Mercy for Animals video opens with a shot of a worker jabbing a cow with a screwdriver.
The Mercy for Animals video opens with a shot of a worker jabbing a cow with a screwdriver.
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) has slammed Mercy for Animals for recording rather than reporting animal cruelty at a member farm in Colorado.

The video - shot over a two month period at Cactus Acres Holsteins in Fort Morgan, Colorado by undercover Mercy for Animals activist, Jessica Buck - shows "acts of animal cruelty​" by some farm employees, said DFA.

In a statement, the Kansas City-based cooperative, which is owned by around 15,000 dairy farmers across the US, said while animal mistreatment is "not tolerated"​ in the US dairy sector, incidents like this should be "immediately reported, not recorded."

"It is disheartening that groups like Mercy for Animals, which claims to have animal care and well at heart, seek change through deceit and misconception, rather than working with the industry to proactively address the concerns," ​DFA said in a statement.

"When animal abuse is witnessed, it should be immediately reported, not recorded."

"Disciplinary action"

The video - since posted on YouTube by DFA - begins with shots of a Cactus Acres Holsteins employee jabbing at one cow with a screwdriver and hitting another with a stick.

Other farm workers are seen slapping, punching, kicking cows.

Click here to watch the Mercy for Animals footage.

When notified of the mistreatment by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, the owners of Cactus Acres Holsteins, Jim and Marie Goedert, took “immediate action,”​ DFA said.

In a statement, Marie and Jim Goedert said they had "taken disciplinary action against all of the employees involved, including several prior to our knowledge of the video as part of our normal dairy management."

“We take great pride in our family farm and in the care provided to our animals. We will not tolerate any mistreatment."

“While we take full responsibility for the activities on our dairy, we find ourselves saddened that these actions were not immediately brought to our attention."

They are now reviewing their monitoring and employee training protocols "to determine where changes need to be made to prevent future incident from occurring," ​it added.

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11 comments

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blame shifting

Posted by KATE GARNER,

Blame shifting is a well known tactic of humans in the wrong. No matter which way u look at it dairy +death and abuse. The only way we can drink milk in the quantities we do is by killing off ALL male babies. So even if the cows are living in beautiful fields of clover they are still suffering from the pain of having their babies stolen and killed and...instead of living out their life span of around 30 years are continually made pregnant... and are usually killed off around age 5.Most dairy in America now comes from factory farmed cows. When u treat sentient beings as a cog in the machinery of capitalism they are going to be mistreated.....WE DO NOT NEED DAIRY........All the protein we need can be obtained from plant sources. THE HUMAN RACE DOES NOT NEED TO IMPRISON, ABUSE, TORTURE AND KILL SENTIENT BEINGS in order to be healthy and happy. The ultimate way out of the animal holocaust our farming now has become is to become VEGAN. There are TOO MANY HUMANS CONSUMING TOO MANY ANIMAL PRODUCTS...... There is so much help online right now on how to become vegan. https://www.vegansociety.com/try-vegan/take-vegan-pledge?gclid=CM_-hbC_r8YCFetf2wodAqYErw I promise everyone you will feel lighter, healthier and happier. :-))

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Typical P.R. Line

Posted by EYG,

It is my understanding they did have their own video monitoring system. They only reacted to the abuse when it became public knowledge. These dairies and their lobbiests are all corrupt, sadistic, lying sacks of shit. They have all decided blaming the undercover investigator for "not reporting the abuse immediately" makes them look like they care. Bullshit. Why didn't the other employees NOT filming report the abuse? They're only mad at one person, the videographer. Go straight to hell...the whole lot of you corrupt son of a bitches.

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Consumer

Posted by Gerilynn benedetto,

How do you not know what's going on? Do you not also examine your animals? Who do you hire? I wrote a comment on Facebook and sent it to friends who will continue to forward it. Animal abuse is a felony. These individuals should go to jail. Never collect unemployment or public aid. Let them try to fend for their food. People are barbarians. These poor defenseless animals have more knowledge than the ones who call themselves humans. Your companies need U.S. consumers we don't need you. We could put all of you who don't treat any animals you all deal with on your farms out of business by not buying any of your products. You need to take more time and care with hiring and watching your businesses. Not just collecting the profits. I would like to find out who you sell to snd avoid buying from them.

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