Dairy Cow Abuser Gets Jail

Dairy farm worker pleads guilty to gut-wrenching abuse of cows, calves


Posted: Sep 24, 2010 9:50 AM CDT Updated: Sep 24, 2010 2:58 PM CDT
Fox19.com


MARYSVILLE MUNI COURT, OH (WOIO) - A guilty plea from the man accused of abusing cows at a dairy farm in Plain City.

Undercover video taken by animal rights activists at the Conklin Dairy Farm show Billy Joe Gregg, Jr. hitting, stabbing and even dropping the cows.

Friday morning, Billy Joe Gregg, Jr. pleaded guilty to six counts of animal cruelty and six additional counts of animal cruelty were dismissed.

The judge sentenced him to 8 months in jail and ruled he can't have any contact with any animal and must enroll in counseling on how to treat animals. Gregg has already served about half of his sentence.

19 Action News is told that the Minerva Cheese Factory has stopped using Conklin Dairy.   Link

Why this guy took pleasure in abusing these cows is beyond me.  What we do know is that this isn’t normal behavior.  In order for our food animals to be productive they need to be as healthy and stress-free as possible.  That can’t be achieved with abuse like we saw in that video.  As a fifth generation rancher and someone who takes animal husbandry very seriously, I’m relived to know that this guy is getting some help.

MFA Veal Video

Animal group wants all veal farms banned




September 1, 2010

By MARC KOVAC

Dix Capital Bureau

COLUMBUS -- The animal welfare group that released a hidden video of an Apple Creek farm said it would like to see all veal operations banned, not just those using the crate systems currently allowed in Ohio.

"We're calling on consumers to make more compassionate choices, and one of those choices is to adopt a healthy vegan diet," Corey Roscoe, a spokeswoman for Mercy for Animals, said during a press conference near the Statehouse on Tuesday. "The veal industry is inherently cruel."

The comments came in response to questions about Buckeye Veal, the Wayne County farm placed in the spotlight by Mercy for Animals for using so-called crate systems to raise its calves.

But the farm said late Monday, in a released statement, it was in the process of phasing out the crates in favor of group housing -- an alternative that would be allowed under revamped standards Mercy for Animals wants to see implemented.

"Veal production represents one of the cruelest industries on the face of the planet," Roscoe said. "And its abusive treatment of baby calves should not be tolerated."

She added, "Even executed with the highest standards, raising veal is inherently cruel."   Read More

The problem that Mercy for Animals has is their main goal is to force a vegan diet on everyone. So no matter what type of system is used to raise livestock, they are going to claim that it is cruel. Much like the HSUS, they will never be happy and will be continually creating a crisis to drive their fundraising machine. It does no good to make deals with either of these groups because they aren’t on a time schedule and there is no middle ground with these people. All in all, this “shocking” video was a pretty weak attempt on their part and shows their desperation to stay in the news. It’s been widely advertised that veal farmers are changing to group housing systems without any government agencies forcing them to do so.

Avoiding Spies On Your Farm

Farms beset by spies
Even humane facilities undertake precautions
Sunday, June 6, 2010 02:59 AM
By Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Dave Thorbahn knows his business is a target. Some of his 184 employees already have been offered cash to videotape what goes on inside his barns.

Who offered them the money or why, Thorbahn can’t say. It could have been someone looking for trade secrets, but he suspects otherwise. He wonders whether it was someone working for an animal-rights organization that wanted a peek inside Select Sires, a bull-semen facility with 1,791 bulls in 57 barns in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Thorbahn is president and CEO of the bovine-genetics business, which happens to have its headquarters along Rt. 42 near Plain City, with buildings directly across the highway from and beside Conklin Dairy Farms, a relatively small farm with just a handful of employees.

But Conklin’s place has been the subject of a criminal investigation since Mercy For Animals, an animal-rights group that promotes a vegan lifestyle, released on May 24 a secretly recorded video showing an employee of Conklin Farms viciously beating and abusing cows and calves.

Conklin herdsman Billy Joe Gregg was subsequently fired and has been charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and a felony weapons charge.

Mercy For Animals’ executive director, Nathan Runkle, said an investigator working for his organization was in Ohio applying for jobs at several farms and was living near Conklin’s when he caught wind of potential abuse there and was hired.

Thorbahn isn’t so sure it was that simple.

“I have to ask myself, were they in this area because of us?” he said. “We’d be quite a plum for an organization like that.” Read More

Every farm or ranch that raises livestock is a target for the animal rights groups that use undercover videos to raise money. While it’s hard to believe that farmers and ranchers would need to protect themselves against the very people they feed and clothe, that is the sad reality. They are desperately trying to get hired anywhere they can. It’s important that farmers and ranchers protect themselves against hiring someone like this. The reason it is important is because these undercover spies won’t be there to work and take care of livestock. They will be more concerned about looking for a camera shot that they can get paid for and may play well with consumers that don’t understand animal husbandry. And, when they can’t accomplish that goal, they will simply not show up for work any longer and move to the next place, here again leaving the proper care of the livestock in jeopardy.

My Thoughts On The Ohio Dairy Farm Abuse Video

I’ve spent my whole life around agriculture and specifically cattle. I love everything about cows. From being there when the calves take their first steps to enjoying the tasty and nutritious beef that I help supply to the world, all of it is fascinating to me. And it’s that appreciation for these animals that has me so upset this morning.

Yesterday afternoon I found out that a new “shocking” video was being released showing the abuse of dairy cows in Ohio. When I finally got a chance to see the video last night I was outraged for many reasons.

First, I think we’ve all learned not to believe everything you see or read on the internet. Especially after watching this video I’d like to think this didn’t really happen. All of the facts in this case will eventually come out, but on the surface the blatant abuse it shows makes no sense. Deliberately mishandling the very cows that, figuratively and literally, are putting the food on your families table is incomprehensible to say the least. Anyone who has ever handled cattle also realizes that all of the things they were doing to these cows were never going to achieve any desired results.

Next, I’m completely disgusted with these undercover employees that are more concerned about getting months worth of video and are willing to let this abuse continue on in the name of their political agenda. Anyone who has a shred of decency wouldn’t let that happen. If you are aware of something like this and still allow it to occur, that makes you part of the problem.

Finally, if these allegations of abuse are found to be true then I’m livid that these people ever considered themselves dairymen and part of the agriculture community. Their actions are an insult to every one of us that work so hard everyday to properly care for our livestock. I wear the titles of Cattlemen and Rancher with pride, but along with them comes a responsibility to uphold the values and tradition of animal husbandry. Everyone I know that works with livestock feels the same way.

As a fifth generation United States rancher, my job is to care for my cows to the best of my ability. What I saw on that video is not acceptable. The good news is that it’s not the norm. I have visited dairies that ranged in size from 4 head to 4000 head. Never have I seen anything but the very best care being given. My experiences on hog farms and other cattle ranches have been the same.

If you are upset with what you see in this video, that’s OK. I am too. But if you are interested in how livestock are treated on the overwhelming majority of farms and ranches, visit one in your area and see it for yourself. ~Troy

AR Groups Says Majority of Farmers Abuse Livestock

Animal rights group says a majority of farmers treat animals poorly
By Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard
January 27, 2010, 8:50PM

Syracuse, NY -- An official with animal rights group Mercy for Animals said Wednesday morning the dairy industry is known for treating cattle cruelly and abuse scenes shown in an undercover video shot by a group member are scenes that exist at farms across the country.

Matt Rice, the New York campaign coordinator for Mercy for Animals, showed a video the group says was shot at Willet Dairy in Genoa, Cayuga County, to bolster its claims that cows are routinely abused at dairy farms. The video was shown during a news conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Syracuse.

The video shows cows with open sores, calves and heifers getting their horns burned off and tails docked (cut short) without painkillers, calves being dragged away from their mothers shortly after birth and cows being beaten, kicked and hit by employees.

Rice said the goal of the Willet Dairy video campaign is to "expose the public to abuses at a modern dairy" and push for laws to protect the animals. He said once people see what is happening at dairy farms, they will see "the best thing anyone can do is remove dairy from their diets."

Jessica Ziehm, speaking for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, said it is outrageous to say a majority of dairy farmers treat their cows poorly.

"Cows are their livelihood and they do all they can to make their cows comfortable, happy and healthy," she said. Read More

To claim that a majority of farmers abuse their livestock shows a complete lack of understanding about animal welfare and performance. I have previously heard claims by uneducated people that claim abuse and poor management can be covered up with modern production methods. The fact of the matter is that the laws of nature can’t be superseded. If the comfort and care needs for an animal aren’t being met, they will not be productive. Year after year, we see our ability to produce food increase while using fewer natural resources. The real story here is that no matter how many livestock live on a farm, they have to be properly cared for so the farm can continue to be profitable.

Egg Council Responds

Iowa Egg Council CEO says methods used are humane
Thursday, September 3, 2009, 12:45 PM
by Jerry Oster, KNAX, Yankton

The C.E.O. of the Iowa Egg Council says producers in the state are not using inhumane production practices, despite what was shown in an undercover video shot by the group Mercy for Animals at the Hy-Line plant in Spencer. The video showed male chicks being separated out and being thrown into a grinder.

Kevin Vinchattle says the methods used to destroy male baby chicks as part of the egg production process are approved and standard operating procedure in the industry. He says there is no market for the male chicks.

"We're in egg production, and boys don't lay eggs and girls do, and so if you could tell in the shell which was going to be a male and which was going to be a female, you'd never even incubate the male eggs and they would get diverted to different use. Right now we don't have the ability to do that," Vinchattle says.

He says the male chicks don't have enough meat on them to be economical as a meat bird, and the euthanasia process is designed to be instantaneous and that is accepted by the industry in the U.S. and Europe. Read More

It seems that many animal rights activists are just finding out that male chickens do not lay eggs. Since the video has come out, they have consistently been emphasizing this fact. This is a non-story in that respect but apparently it’s been a revelation for them. No form of euthanasia is pretty, but I can’t imagine a quicker way to do it. It’s a method that’s been approved here and in Europe, which is where many animal rights groups point to as being the example we should follow. Besides, if Mercy for Animals was really concerned about animal welfare, they would have brought this issue forward right away. This is nothing more than a staged publicity stunt.

Here's the main thing to remember. Mercy for Animals will not be happy about any form of euthanasia or use of livestock for human benefit. So this really makes the video footage a moot point. They could video tape cows standing in a pasture and they are still going to advocate that people be vegans.