Day: May 24, 2022

Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

England: After the USA, We Move To England and Dairy Abuse Investigations.

Viva !

And sticking with dairy, after the recent ARM video from Stacey:

USA: First-Ever Cruelty Investigation into an Organic (“Humane/High-Welfare/Certified/LIELIELIE) Dairy Farm. – World Animals Voice

Now we move from US investigations to the UK; and witness something you would never have seen in the UK until (very) recently; young calves being kept independently in plastic crate ‘calf hutches’.  This system has probably been adopted by UK farms after the use and experiences of same in USA.

We have the pleasure of Animal Aid being based here in our (WAV) home county of Kent, England.  They (AA) are one of the UK’s leading animal welfare / vegan organisations and are very well known in British animal rights for their undercover work.  So here is the link to their website where you can read and learn lots. take action, and learn more about their work and campaigns:

Home – Animal Aid

Dear Mark,

Animal Aid recently investigated calf hutches at a Somerset dairy farm. These plastic crates ‘house’ individual calves – and sadly they are commonly used by around 40% of UK dairy farms.

Calves are usually taken away from their mothers within hours of birth, causing immense distress to both mother and infant. Housed alone, unable to feed naturally, they are instead given a timetabled ration of liquid milk.

These young calves spend their first few weeks of life in the isolating hutches, before either being sent directly for slaughter, or reared for their flesh. Females may be reared as a dairy cow – with around 30% of females kept as ‘herd replacers’. This involves repeated pregnancies, with every baby taken away, until the cow’s body is exhausted and spent – at which point she will also be killed for meat.

Our investigation found: 

Calves living in tiny hutches, with their natural instincts to bond, socialise and feed restricted or completely denied.

Calves desperately trying to have full-body contact with one another, despite their confinement, as they naturally would. 

Animal Aid documented a baby calf being physically abused and shouted at by a farm worker, whilst another simply laughed. This has been reported to the relevant authorities.

Animal Aid put the findings of our investigation to Dr. Helen Lambert, an internationally renowned animal welfare scientist and expert on animal sentience. Dr. Lambert’s work has shown that cows are intelligent and sensitive animals, with complex social lives.

In our film of the investigation, Dr. Lambert explains how the separation of cows from their mothers causes both mother and baby immense stress, and how the isolation of calves in these hutches has a terrible impact on their well-being. Calf hutches mean that these babies cannot interact with one another, feed as they naturally would, walk freely, run, jump or play.

“Cows are emotional, complex, intelligent and social beings with markedly different personalities. Research shows us that keeping calves in these small hutches with little room to move, and few opportunities to interact with one another, can have long-lasting and permanent effects on their well-being.” – Dr. Helen Lambert PhD

No mother, and no baby, deserves to go through this horrendous treatment for the sake of products we do not need. Animal Aid urges everyone who is shocked by these revelations to ditch dairy and adopt a plant-based diet.

Take action!

Order a FREE Vegan Pack today

Write to your local paper or radio station, encouraging people to have compassion for animals by going vegan. You can direct people to our website for friendly advice and amazing recipes.

Thank you!

The Animal Aid team

… and here are a few links to our super county – Kent;  ‘The Garden of England’

Regards Mark

Music is ‘iffy’, but …

Farm Animals, General News

USA: First-Ever Cruelty Investigation into an Organic (“Humane/High-Welfare/Certified/LIELIELIE) Dairy Farm.

Both photos – Animal Recovery Mission.

With many thanks as always to Stacey for supplying some info from ‘across the pond’;

Regards Mark

Watch the investigation video by clicking on this link:

First-Ever Cruelty Investigation into an Organic (“Humane/High-Welfare/Certified/LIELIELIE) Dairy Farm

Stacey May 23 https://vimeo.com/349213938?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=12159303

Source Animal Recovery Mission

If animal agriculture was so humane and ethical, the actual industry would be offering information and documentation of the slaughter “process”, not undercover investigators/employees; as it is, the industry execs and supporters relentlessly pursue ag-gag and attempt to criminalize the people who expose them.

Needing to continually update it’s PR, anag floats “organic”, “high welfare”, “certified humane”, etcetcetc., human-centric words to define animals’ required suffering and violent death, just so YOU can take their flesh and the calves’ naturally-intended milk instead … as an aging human with teeth…If being “humane” to animals is important, NOT killing/consuming/breastfeeding-from animals is MORE IMPORTANT.

Their repeated violations, fear, pain, and premature and infant violent death are what YOU PAY FOR. If you have to label a violent “process” as “humane” and that still requires violent death, that means it is inherently NOT, just like my plant-based food requires no HUMANE labels. This is an industry that values DEATH, which makes animal lives cost-prohibitive: animals are products, bred-to-be-dead, and as such, NO concern to their care/comfort/emotions/safety is regarded or even necessary as all are precluded by animals’ “worth” as mere products.

And no, animals aren’t treated like trash, they’re treated WORSE than trash since trash lacks the capacity for pain, suffering, fear, and misery. SL

Source Sentient Media By Matthew Zampa

Animal Recovery Mission’s (ARM) investigation at Natural Prairie Dairy stands as the first-ever cruelty investigation into an organic dairy farm in the United States, and the third installment of the largest dairy investigation of all time into Fairlife and Select Milk Producers, Inc.

The first two investigations released by ARM were Operation Fair Oaks Farms and Operation Fairlife. Natural Prairie Dairy is located in Channing, TX, and houses over 25,000 cows between its four locations. Over four months, an ARM investigator documented cows stabbed with screwdrivers, kicked and dragged when unable to stand due to illness and fatigue.

Cows were repeatedly and violently inseminated and mother cows were witnessed being chased while giving birth, and the babies immediately ripped away from their mothers. The following video footage was compiled by the ARM investigative team between March and July 2019.

The farm is still open for business today.

People concerned with buying organic dairy products are being deceived by the animal agriculture industry about the realities of how their food is being produced and the companies they support, which ARM documented and exposed during its latest four-month investigation. Organic dairies, such as Natural Prairie Dairy, are often viewed by consumers and the public as naturally more humane and ethical than non-organic farms. But just because a farm calls itself “organic” does not mean it’s cruelty-free. In most cases, the term “organic” serves a very different purpose, one that has nothing to do with the humane and ethical treatment of animals.

Consumers pay top dollar for organic milk and dairy products, compared to conventional products, and they justify making such expensive purchases because the products are supposedly better for their health, the environment, and for the animals. On organic milk labels, dairy companies reinforce this message, showing images of cows smiling and grazing in green pastures. That could not be further from the truth.

Do these cows look happy to you? The following evidence was compiled by undercover ARM investigators at Natural Prairie Dairy over four months. Investigators who return to the farm – or any farm like it – will witness similar acts of cruelty.

Cows are removed from their holding barns every eight hours to be milked, day and night. It is important to note that Natural Prairie Dairy is equipped with camera surveillance and that the actions of employees are recorded and overseen by management. As the company states on its website, all Natural Prairie Dairy employees receive training in “animal welfare and handling before they begin work on the farm.” “Unfortunately, [Natural Prairie] failed to deter and/or stop the systemic cruelty, torment, and squalid living conditions suffered by the cows,” ARM stated in the Operation Natural Prairie report.

Natural Prairie Dairy promises to “take care of the cow” on its website. “A sustainable farm ecosystem means giving our cows the very best care.” In light of the farm’s commitment to animal welfare, the ARM investigator witnessed extreme and violent animal cruelty within the first few hours of employment.

Daily, cows were tormented, kicked, hit with shovels, and stabbed with screwdrivers by the farm’s so-called animal caregivers. During its grueling investigation, ARM concluded with the same abhorrent conditions – abuse and cruelty towards the dairy cows – that was evident in ARM’s conventional dairy farm investigations. Amongst these criminal acts upon animals, the investigator documented dairy cows being tormented. Downer cows were repeatedly beaten to get up. Cows that couldn’t prop themselves back up were stabbed with screwdrivers, pulled by the head by front loaders, dragged, picked up by the bucket and driven to a holding area where they awaited transport to be sold for slaughter.

Other cows were left to die slowly in barns, some cows taking a whole day or longer to die, all under the supervision of management. Cows were seen falling into cesspools and almost drowning. Many of the cows suffer from infection and lameness and were reluctant to eat, so they were force-fed with metal tubes by untrained employees. The ARM investigator also documented dead calves and cows in a dumpsite. In 2008, Organic Valley terminated its contract with Natural Prairie Dairy for suspected violations of the USDA’s Guidelines for Organic Certification of Dairy Livestock, among other organic labeling standards.

The average size Organic Valley member farm has approximately 65-70 cows, according to an investigation conducted by the Cornucopia Institute at Natural Prairie Dairy in 2008. Satellite imagery indicated that unlike legitimate organic farms, that commonly have one cow per acre, Natural Prairie had as many as 7.2 cows per acre.

Natural Prairie’s website states: “During the warmer months, we graze our cows on acres and acres of beautiful green pastures. When it gets cold, they stay in spacious, open-air, free-stall barns that protect them from the elements.” This could not be further from the truth. According to the ARM investigator, if a cow isn’t being milked, they spend their lives in illegally overcrowded barns where they are forced to lay on cement covered in feces.

Many develop footrot and cannot walk. The farm’s gross violations of the USDA’s organic dairy certification guidelines is a crucial component of this investigation. According to the guidelines, continuous total confinement of any ruminant animal over six months of age indoors is strictly prohibited. Throughout his time on the farm, the ARM investigator found that Natural Prairie Dairy cows well enough and willing to graze only did so for about an hour a day during the grazing months.

Many others never left the barn. Animal Recovery Mission Donald DeJong is the owner and CEO of Natural Prairie Dairy. Soon after ARM began this investigation, it also discovered that DeJong is the vice chairman of Select Milk Producers, and a Board of Directors member of Fairlife and he has strong personal and business associations with Mike McCloskey of Fair Oaks Farms and Fairlife. Natural Prairie Dairy currently supplies raw dairy to Kroger, Costco, and Publix through Aurora Organic Dairy’s bottling plant in Denver, Colorado. The company is in the process of expanding its operations with construction underway in Newton County, Indiana, that will supply dairy to Meijer Grocer, the Midwest, and East Coast.

The undercover investigator was fired after management found photos of animal abuse on his cell phone. They quickly deleted the photos – to no avail. ARM investigators submitted a substantial body of evidence to the Hartley County Sheriff’s Office for review. “Consumer power is the most effective vehicle towards creating change by raising awareness of these criminal findings,” ARM said in a statement. “Leave dairy products out of your cart.”

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Want to do more than go vegan? Help others to do so! Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only compassionate route to being an animal friend: PETA HERE
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Have questions? Click HERE

Regards Mark / Stacey

General News, Uncategorized

England: French Footballer Kurt Zouma pleads guilty to kicking cat after video emerged of West Ham star abusing pet.

West Ham’s Kurt Zouma covers himself as he arrives at Thames Magistrate court in London, (Photo: REUTERS/Matthew Childs)

You can read all about (footballer) Kurt Zouma abusing his cat by visiting our reports on this at:

Search Results for “kurt zouma” – World Animals Voice

The centre-back pleaded guilty to two counts under the Animal Welfare Act

West Ham star Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat.

The defender pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act when he appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court in east London on Tuesday morning.

Zouma, 27, apologised for his actions after graphic footage was filmed and shared by his younger brother Yoan, 24, on social media.

He admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a cat.

Yoan, who was accused of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring his Zouma to commit an offence, admitted one offence during the hearing.

Two further counts against the men were dismissed.

Zouma arrived at court accompanied by several security guards who emerged from a vehicle holding umbrellas to form a protective shield around him.

In the video, which was widely condemned, Zouma can be seen kicking the Bengal cat across his kitchen, before throwing a pair of shoes at it and slapping its head.

Prosecutor Hazel Stevens said the 40-second clip appeared to be carried out after the cats were deemed responsible for damaging a chair in the home.

She said: “Kurt Zouma is determined to chastise or carry out some sort of retribution for the damage caused.”

Ms Stevens told the court Zouma could be heard saying: “I swear I’ll kill it, I swear I’ll kill it.”

Experts said the cat would have likely suffered soft tissue damage to the head, as well as mental and physical suffering.

Concerns over the cat’s welfare were raised by a woman who saw the footage which was also shared on snapchat.

The woman was so appalled that she cancelled a date with Yoan, saying: “I don’t think hitting a cat like that is OK – don’t bother coming today.”

The court hearing comes following an investigation led by the RSPCA, which has brought the prosecution against the Zouma brothers.

The animal welfare charity seized two cats belonging to Zouma after the video was circulated online. The cats remain in the care of the RSPCA.

Zouma has agreed for the two male Bengal cats to be rehomed, the court heard.

The two men will be sentenced on 1 June.

Additional reporting by PA News Agency

Kurt Zouma pleads guilty to kicking cat after video emerged of West Ham star abusing pet (inews.co.uk)

For all the press coverage go to:

(2) zouma – Search (bing.com)

Personally, I feel that he should be given a community sentence, working at a cat shelter for 6 months, say 15 hours week; cleaning out cat poo; as a financial fine for his actions is not enough.  He gets tens of thousands £ a week for being a footballer; he needs to give his bit to animal welfare and the community; and working free of payment at a cat shelter is one way to this.

Lets see what the sentencing on June 1st brings; we will report it.

What can be learned from this ? –  in the UK, when you abuse animals, you face the consequences of your actions; and sometimes they are not nice. Brits don’t like animal abusers. Alternatively, we will pay for him to have a one way flight ticket back to France, on the guarantee he remains there.

Regards Mark