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Satanica

Veteran Member
Bold Member!
Hat tip to Sugar Cookie.

[....]
The graphic video began circulating Tuesday and outrage has been spreading since. There was an immediate response from the founder of Fair Oaks Farms, who made clear that the abusive employees seen in the footage have all been fired.

The video was captured by a group called Animal Recovery Mission, which had one of its members hired as a calf care worker in order to conduct an undercover investigation from August to November of last year.

The investigator captured footage of four Fair Oaks employees engaged in extreme animal cruelty; calves being thrown, kicked, stabbed, beaten and burned.

According to the group, dead calves were not to be seen by any visitors or tourists.

The founder is a veterinarian who adds that the abuses go against everything that Fair Oaks stand for. It remains to be seen how the scandal will affect business at the farm.

Fair Oaks is known for its dairy products and this facility is a popular attraction for Chicago-area families.
[....]
Months ago, when I first learned of the undercover activity, I requested a 3rd party review and we went through a re-training process throughout the dairies. While the review came back favorable, I am not letting my guard down and will institute more thorough monitoring and training so that this abuse can never happen again. This video and any future videos will be immediately handed over to the authorities for review and potential prosecution.

Regardless, I am disgusted by and take full responsibility for the actions seen in the footage, as it goes against everything that we stand for in regards to responsible cow care and comfort. The employees featured in the video exercised a complete and total disregard for the documented training that all employees go through to ensure the comfort, safety and well-being of our animals.

It is a shock and an eye-opener for us to discover that under our watch, we had employees who showed disregard for our animals, our processes and for the rule of law. This ARM video shines a light on an area that – despite our thorough training, employee onboarding procedures and overall commitment to animal welfare – needs improvement. However, as I have stated before, the fact that ARM takes months before notifying owners or authorities regarding on-going animal abuse is concerning. I have personally reached out to ARM’s founder, Richard Couto, to discuss a more symbiotic relationship but he has yet to reach back.
A full investigation of all aspects of the video is underway, during and after which disciplinary action will be taken, including termination and criminal prosecution, of any and all employees and managers who have violated either our animal care practices or the law or both.

The statement that we grow and sell drugs on our farms is false. The plants featured in the video are an invasive perennial species that is rampant on farms all over the midwest. With that said, I am disappointed to learn of potential drug use on our properties. Months ago, the individual seen smoking by the barn and doing drugs in a truck was turned in by his co-workers to one of our managers. That manager notified local law enforcement about the drug use and, accordingly, a police report is on file.

It is with a heavy heart that I prepare this statement today. As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply. I am disappointed for not being aware of this kind of awful treatment occurring and I take full responsibility for what has happened. I also take full responsibility to correct and ensure that every employee understands, embraces and practices the core values on which our organization stands.

I am and will continue to be deeply involved in the resolution of this matter, down to every one of our employees, so that I can guarantee that these actions never again occur on any of our farms.



 
ARM should have contacted the dairy months ago.
If they were truly about stopping animal cruelty they would have.
 
I think the solution would be to install surveillance cameras in the barns and work areas and then actually have someone monitor them. It's unfortunate that employees have to be watched, but the problem of lack of integrity is growing; not shrinking.
 
I'll bet they wouldn't even have to have a human monitoring cameras. Pretty sure someone could (or maybe has) develop software that would recognize certain movements and sounds as being out of the norm and alert a human who could review it. Doesn't sound all that expensive to me. However, most in this industry would rather ban cameras altogether than implement a solution to unnecessary cruelty.
 
FAIR OAKS, Ind. – Authorities released the names Tuesday of three former employees of a large northwestern Indiana dairy farm who were charged with animal cruelty following the release of undercover video showing workers kicking and throwing calves.
[....]
Police identified the three suspects Tuesday as 31-year-old Santiago Ruvalcaba Contreros, 36-year-old Edgar Gardozo Vazquez and 38-year-old Miguel Angel Navarro Serrano. Prosecutors had charged them Monday with misdemeanor beating of a vertebrate animal, and arrest warrants were issued for the men.

It's unclear whether the men have attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

Investigators said other "persons of interest" were being interviewed in the case. Many of the conversations in the video released by the Miami-based Animal Recovery Mission involved people speaking Spanish.
[....]
The Associated Press left a message Tuesday with the sheriff's office seeking additional details on its investigation into the alleged abuse at Fair Oaks Farms' dairies about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Chicago. Farm officials say the farm draws about 500,000 tourists a year.

Newton County Prosecutor Jeff Drinski said Monday that Fair Oaks Farms "has cooperated completely in our attempts to identify and interview all persons involved in the videos that we have all viewed over the past week."

The AP also left a message Tuesday with Fair Oaks Farms seeking comment.

Fair Oaks Farms founder Mike McCloskey said in a statement last week that four employees seen in the video had been fired and actions have been taken to prevent further abuse. A fifth person shown in the video was a third-party truck driver who was transporting calves, he said.

Fair Oaks Farms is the flagship farm for Fairlife, a national brand of higher protein, higher calcium and lower fat milk. Some retailers have also pulled Fairlife products from their shelves, including Chicago-area groceries Jewel-Osco and Strack & Van Til and Family Express, which operates convenience stores across Indiana.

On Friday, Fair Oaks Farms suspended its home delivery service of milk, cheese and other products for one week, in part to protect drivers it says are facing harassment over the video.

 
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