Four New Mexico dairy farm workers have been charged with a
total of nine counts of criminal cruelty to animals following an undercover
investigation by Mercy For Animals at Winchester Dairy outside of Roswell, New
Mexico.
Shocking video footage obtained by an MFA investigator shows
workers viciously kicking and punching cows, stabbing them with screwdrivers,
violently whipping them in their faces and bodies with chains and metal wires,
and dragging “downer cows who were too sick or injured to stand with a tractor
while workers shocked them in the genitals with electric prods.
Watch the video footage here:
Immediately after the investigation, MFA presented law enforcement with the video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the clear violations of New Mexico’s anti-cruelty laws. Mercy For Animals praises the New Mexico Livestock Board and the Chaves County District Attorney’s Office for their decisive action in pursuing justice on behalf of the animals abused at Winchester Dairy.
Immediately after the investigation, MFA presented law enforcement with the video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the clear violations of New Mexico’s anti-cruelty laws. Mercy For Animals praises the New Mexico Livestock Board and the Chaves County District Attorney’s Office for their decisive action in pursuing justice on behalf of the animals abused at Winchester Dairy.
While
it is important that these individual animal abusers are held accountable, it
is ultimately the owners and managers at Winchester Dairy who are responsible
for allowing a culture of criminal cruelty and neglect to fester at their factory
farm.
As numerous MFA investigations prove, cows are all too often
subjected to cruel, inhumane, and illegal abuses at dairy factory farms across
the country. Recognizing
the importance of meaningful animal welfare policies to prevent egregious abuse
in their supply chains, some major dairy producers have started to take action.
Following
this investigation at Winchester Dairy and meetings with MFA, Leprino Foods,
the world’s largest mozzarella cheese maker and a supplier to Pizza Hut,
Domino’s, and Papa John’s restaurants, committed to the most comprehensive animal welfare
policy ever adopted by a major U.S. dairy company. Nestlé and Great Lakes
Cheese, two of the largest dairy companies in the world, also agreed to make
meaningful animal welfare requirements for their suppliers based on MFA
undercover investigations.
With
these three announcements, it’s never been clearer that the days are numbered
for dairy factory farms that beat and drag cows, and mutilate them without
painkillers. It’s now time for Dean Foods, Land O’Lakes, and other mega-dairies
to stop dragging their feet and implement their own animal welfare guidelines
to reduce the pain and suffering that cows endure on factory farms.
Remember,
the most important action we can take to help farmed animals is to choose
healthy and humane vegan foods. Visit GotMisery.com
now to take our veg pledge!