Dairy Farm Abuse Investigation Part 1/4
I’m Not Looking at You, and if I was, I Wouldn’t Care
While our country is busily arguing the politics of health reform and education cuts, sending emails, texts and ipadding away, there’s an invisible yet ever-widening rip current of emotional indifference and apathy rushing into the American psyche like never before.
We consume like aquarium fish, gorging ourselves into oblivion, never thinking about the source of our obtusely disgusting addictions. The source. Everything just comes to us now. We don’t have to think about from where? Money passes hands, we feed. We never visit a farm, we never feel the dirt in our hands, we never speak to the farmers, much less know what part of the world they live in.
Violence
Recently, there was an undercover investigation of a Plain City, Ohio, dairy farm, and the investigators were able to get some video footage of what most people would call animal abuse. This was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. A man hooks a hoop through a cow’s nose, clips it tight to a metal fence so the movement is only inches. He then, all the while loudly laughing (“You’re mine, motherf**ker, you’re mine now”) picks up a crowbar and begins to beat the cow in the face. The cow falls, but as her septum is chained to the fence, she can’t even allow herself that fall, for the pain of tearing apart her nostrils. Over and over the man beats this cow, the cow, screaming, and then a scream like I have never heard in my life from an animal. The pain in that scream is unbearable. I have to stop for now.
Another clip, a man casually walking by a row of milking cows. He has a pitchfork in his hand, he’s stabbing the cows in the udders as he walks by. Just stabbing as hard as he can, for no apparent reason. They’re chained up; they cannot escape. And then a boot on a calf’s head, over and over, smashing, crunching. A calf is lifted by his ears and thrown onto the ground, punched in the face. What is this? What drives this kind of action?
In the past few years, I’ve seen videos of this kind of behavior from farm workers over and over and over. In one, a ship full of sheep sailing to the Middle East for slaughter (1/3 die on these ships every year due to heat exhaustion, overcrowding, dehydration, etc and this is industry normal) and a worker walks by a sheep laying down and for no reason, kicks it in the face. These were sheep raised for wool, then sent off to slaughter when production became low. In another video, workers have sex with chickens before throwing them into scalding hot water to boil to death. In another, workers use hooks to drive pigs out of trucks into pens, stabbing the pigs in the nose, ramming the hooks into the pigs’ rectums. Viciously, intentionally. In another, a forklift is used to push a live cow who cannot walk. In another, a turkey is lying on the floor of a turkey house, incapacitated, but trying. A man walks by and kicks it. Tosses it, slams it to the ground. The turkey, still alive, can barely move, but tries again anyway. And later, the cartoon image of a happy turkey will be broadcasted America over for the advertising of Thanksgiving meals.
I can’t even call it animal abuse because it’s far, far worse. I wanted to jump through the screen and strangle these men with my bare hands, shoot them, smash in their faces with the same crowbar they used to smash in the faces of the cows chained up by their noses.
You see? Violence begets violence.
What is happening to our farmers and the farmhands we find in these undercover videos is only a magnification of what is happening to us. How can we judge a person who hurts an animal when we pay that person to be there, unchecked, unattended while we gladly look the other way? When we demand our burgers, our milk, our cheese? We are so lazy that we would rather pay someone to beat cows in the face with a crowbar than to drive to our local dairy to make sure everything’s on the up and up. We just don’t think about it. We live in the culture of make believe.
“This is just a worst-case scenario.” People say this to justify their continued consumption of animals and their secretions. There is no “worst-case scenario.” They are all worst-case scenarios. In the end, people profit, animals suffer. Period.
Click on the video below to watch the Conklin Dairy Farm Undercover Footage
Comments
Please America,close your mouth and open your eyes to this disgusting abuse. Too many people say "I just can't watch those videos, it's too upsetting". Factory farming needs change now. Go to change.org to sign a petition. Donate to mercyforanimals.org and farmsanctuary.org. They will continue to expose the horrors of factory farming.
"The cow falls, but as his septum is chained to the fence, he can’t even allow himself that fall, for the pain of tearing apart his nostrils."
Cows are female.
I;'m about to go on to 'part 2' of your piece - but had to comment. I could only watch a minute or less of the footage last week - but your review of the nose/crowbar beaating was SO right on. I saw and heard the primal scream from that poor animal for days...even now! I'd watched the video at work - it haunted me al day adn then I bawled when I got home. It was THE worst thing I have EVER seen. This crap WAY more than 'animal abuse' like so many others write it off as. It was oure torture.
im so totally disgusting in humans men especially the anger towards animals in this video makes me wonder what they would do to other people if they could, so they do abuse animals beacuse they cannot talk you abusers in that video and clonkin karma is a bitch and hell awaits you
No words can describe what I would like to do to all people involved and Conklin Farms. I could not watch the video. My concern is how the cows are? They need to be shut down and all should go to death row!
Make Animal Abuase a Felony!!!
Please don't ignore this suffering.
IF YOU SEE THE PAIN AND DO NOTHING, YOU ARE JUST AS GUILTY
PLEASE HELP STOP THE ABUSE!
To say that the abuses that were witnessed in teh video of the Conklin farm is "industry standard" is just a lazy way of saying, "we have a problem but don't want to deal with it, because then we'd lose money". Everyone of those people who were videod kicking, beating, slamming, and torturing those cows has severe issues. The helpless calf.. What the hell was that beating for? Oh yeah.. becasue if the guy tried to take on a cow loose in the pen without his pitchfork or crow bar .. he would have been killed! For punishment Id like to see them out in with a bull, barehanded, no weapons.. NOTHING! with a few heifers inheat just outside of the bull reach. Notice we didn't see them messing with a bull. ROT IN HELL CONKLIN FARM AND IT'S WORKERS who abused!!!!
I couldn't watch much of the video. It's absolutely disgusting. Those men should be shot, they are no use to anyone.
To bland: Thanks for adding such value to the conversation. Wonderful point from an obvious deep thinker. Would a male animal feel less pain or be less frightened by that torture? What difference does the animal's gender make? Oh, you were just pointing out how intelligent you are by underscoring the author's misuse of a pronoun? Nicely done, Brainiac! Way to totally miss the point!
As for the article, I found it thought provoking and chock full of compelling arguments for adhering to a vegan lifestyle. It inspired me to become more of an advocate for the animals being victimized. Warehouse farms are a blight on the nation and serious reform is long overdue. I will be actively seeking ways to make that happen.
I realy hope thay closed that farm removed the animals, the owner to -I saw on tape hurting them to, If thay didnt close that farm shame on the law-The owners should be respnsible for the actions of them-selfs and that sick man!!!!!.When a person sees a crime, dosnt say anything about it, thay are charged to with the crime!!!!What about are animals in the world?"My 9yr old asked me one night while we watched are 1 show whale wars-mom he said,why are the older people doing such bad things to are animals in the world?,Im so sad for them"I said I was so sad too"My weeone said he was going to grow up big one day and he was going to help all the animals in the world,because grown people dont know how to!!!To all the people out in this world doing such bad things to are loved animals,You are not just hurting the animals, you are hurting the world, and the childre like my weeone who is 9yrs old,Thank you all for reading-God bless you all who risk your lifes to protect,and stop the crimes.
This is one of the most awful things I have seen. If this farm is not shut down by law informcement, and those disturbed animal beaters sent to prison, then we have some serious problems with our laws. Personally I would love to get those -------, alone with a pitch fork and couple of pipes. its amazing how people like that can attack defenseless animals. We all know what true punks they are when it comes to someone that CAN defend themselves. It's truley sick...!
I would love to hurt these rotten bastards. Isn't there a vigilante group which could mete out the obviously punishment due. Seriously, a vigilante group to take vengeance on the behalf of these innocents. These punks that did this to the cows in Ohio should be shot. Wouldn't the world be a better place? You bet it would.
I'm in tears, I can not bear seeing motherf**ers like this treating animals this way.If you are bored of working in a farm, go and f**k yourself somewhere else!IT'S DISGUSTING!Please can we do something???????
i cried watching this video n couldnt sleep,the pains unbearable foe these innocent animals..these guys should be chopped n killed. if there would be such a punishment legally for these guyz..i ll be gladly do that..i wanted to chop them into pieces n grab there hearts out. but for now its better that we donate mercyforanimals.org and help these animals.
I feel like I am watching the devil in human form. I am completely choked with anger and sadness at the betrayel of humans to animals. I couldnt stop crying after watching this vile twisted act of cruelty. I would do everything in my power to stop this. ......words cant epress im completely choked.
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