In response to MFA's release of cruelty footage at Willet Dairy on Tuesday, Leprino Foods, a Denver-based cheese producer, has dropped Willet as a milk supplier. Leprino distributes cheese to the three largest pizza companies in the U.S. - Pizza Hut, Dominos and Papa John's. Until Wednesday, milk from Willet had been sent to Leprino's Waverly, N.Y. plant. Mike Reidy, a senior vice president of Leprino, stated on Thursday, "We are no longer served by that dairy."The footage obtained by an MFA undercover investigator revealed the following abuses perpetrated on a routine basis at Willet:
• Workers burning out the horns and slicing off the tails of calves without anesthesia
• Cows confined indoors in herds so densely packed or stalls so small that they could not move freely
• "Downed" cows - those too sick or injured to stand - left to suffer for weeks before they died or were killed
• Workers kicking, punching and electrically shocking cows and calves
• Cows with debilitating leg injuries, abscesses, open wounds and prolapsed uteruses, many caked with feces and left to fester without veterinary care
• Workers injecting cows with a controversial bovine growth hormone used to increase milk production
"We take these issues, very, very seriously and we will respond," Reidy said. "We continue to view animal health and welfare as a matter of critical importance." He added that Leprino had not yet decided on what further actions to take.
While MFA is pleased that Leprino has dropped Willet as a supplier, and it is an important step in the right direction, Leprino and other producers must adopt a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to animal health and welfare.
Compassionate consumers can take immediate action to help end this abuse simply by ditching dairy and going vegan.
