No Mercy For Animal Abuse

I just watched a horrific video filmed by a vegan activist group about how one farm very clearly did not care for the welfare and health of the dairy calves. I just want to say that I am outraged; nobody should treat an animal in the manner that was depicted in the short video, and everyone involved in the malicious acts should be penalized for their actions. I am not going to post the video here as it shows violent abuse and may even violate animal crush video laws, if you wish to watch it a simple search for "mercy for animals, calves" should find it for you.

This is not how we care for the beef calves on our farm, nor how my neighboring dairy farmers raise the calves on their farms. Here are a few of the ways that we care for the calves on our farm:

When calves are born we give vitamins, vaccines, and make sure that their navels are clean to prevent infection. We also record their weight to refer back to if needed.
We make sure that calves are well cared for; they always have access to hay and water. During the wet spring months we make sure that they always have access to a dry bedded area in the barn. Making sure that calves are dry and comfortable is always the first line of defense against disease and illness.
If an animal becomes ill we immediately take action to try to improve the health of the calf. If I recognize the symptoms that the calf is having I medicate it properly, if not I call the vet to make sure that the calf receives proper care. Unfortunately though sometimes we can do everything in our power to try to save an animal and not be able to save it.

At the end of the video there is a message from the group that conducted the undercover investigation urging watchers to “go vegan” to end animal abuse. I have a different message that I would like to share, animal abuse is not caused by eating meat or animal products. Animal abuse is the result of disturbed individuals that have little to no respect of the life of the animal that they are abusing.

I would like to thank Mercy For Animals (MFA) for finding and reporting this abuse to authorities after they were done with their two week investigation, even though I feel that they should have reported it quicker. This is one of several undercover video’s that was released by this group over the past few years. Surely they have been on thousands of farms that treat their animals with respect. If this group really want to show America how farm animals are treated across the majority of farms in the United States I ask that they show footage from these thousands of farms as well. Below is a video that is a regular scene on our farm:

Furthermore, for anyone reading this blog and is aware of animal abuse or neglect please report it right away. Please familiarize yourself with the proper authorities on animal welfare in your state. If you are in Ohio you can report abuse claims to The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, your local animal shelter, or local law enforcement agency. Animal Abuse is not acceptable and should not be tolerated, it is up to us to take action and call out the bad actors in agriculture.

For more information you may also be interested in the following:

What Farmers are saying about this recent video

Do those shooting animal abuse video's really have mercy for the animals?

National Dairy FARM

Dairy Faming today

RayLin Dairy Is going Vegan the Answer to Animal Abuse?

Agriculture Proud Quality Food Begins With Quality Animal Care

Cause Matters The Tears I've Shed…. Animal Abuse

Crystal Cattle Animal Abuse in Agriculture

Dairy Innovation Animal abuse: Still a Big No No!

Zweber Farms Video:Calf Care on Zweber Farms December 2010

Zweber Family Farm News Calf and Animal Care is our Number One!