The Newton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana has filed
charges against three people seen in an undercover animal-cruelty video at Fair
Oak Farms. The video, which was released last week, appeared to show farm
workers kicking calves, beating them with metal bars, and throwing the animals
around recklessly. Law enforcement said that the three people were charged with
beating of a vertebrate animal, a misdemeanor offense.
Although the names of those who were charged have not yet
been released, the sheriff’s office expects to identify them today. The
“investigator” who shot the video on
behalf of the vegan activist Animal Recovery Mission has not been charged.
The video has led to a divided public reaction — Fair Oaks
has been heavily criticized for not stepping in sooner to stop the abuse, while
others are calling it an isolated incident and not indicative of Fair Oaks’
standard operating procedure. The social media flurry has led to much
speculation, including supporters claiming that the video was staged or that
the people seen in it were ARM staffers. Meanwhile ARM itself has published a
statement denying rebuttals such as this and saying that they are “originating
out of Russia.”
ARM even found itself on the defensive, recently having to
explain conflicting claims of whether the abuse was reported to upper
management or why it hadn’t been reported to law enforcement sooner, especially
considering that the sheriff’s office considers these acts criminal. ARM also
tried to explain why it waited six months to release the video:
“As the reason for why we waited so long for this release
was because the Animal Recovery Mission had the obligation to investigate where
the male calves were going to,” ARM said in a statement, referencing the apparent
sale of bull calves for veal. That kind of investigation takes time, the group
said.
On Monday, animal-rights activists converged on Fairlife’s
Chicago headquarters to protest the treatment of cows at Fair Oaks Farms and
draw attention to what they called “systemic” abuse in the dairy industry. Fair
Oaks is the flagship farm of the Fairlife brand.
Fair Oaks founder Dr. Mike McCloskey first appeared in an
April video after he found out that the undercover video existed and then
appeared again in a video last week, pleading his case with heartfelt emotion
and pledging to do things better.
He noted that of the four workers depicted in the video,
three were terminated before the video’s release after co-workers reported the
abuse, and the fourth worker was fired last week. McCloskey, who has a
veterinarian degree, said all employees were trained in animal care and in
reporting abuse to management. Their actions go against company policy,
McCloskey said.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing and
that more witnesses are being interviewed.
--AgDaily