Bob Barker, MFA call for action against veal and dairy farming

Just saw this last night on their (MFA) website. Pretty gross stuff… It’s gotta be an awful life to be a calf, or even a dairy cow for that matter. These group housing situations seem like a natural transition but I still wouldn’t eat veal. Maybe dairy is on the way out for me, too!

One reader asked about the changes that already were taking place at the farm, including a move to group housing. That information has been included.

Also hoping to provide active link to Buckeye Veal’s full statement to media, as well as MFA’s full initial statement.

I have not seen this video and I won’t, I saw one like it on Opra years ago and I cryed all day because of it,I don’t agree with the way these animals are treated but I’ve also learned that you can’t believe every thang you see. These animal rights groups will do anythang to get people with livestock out of the way, right now they are going after the cattle owners, dairy,veal,beef,next when they have succeded in taking them away from all owners they will go after the chickens alittle harder, then your pigs,goats,ect. till there are no more livestock then it will be your house hold pets, what do they plan to to with all these animals?Alot of livestock owners my self included take very good care of thier animals they are part of thier family but these animal rights people don’t care they want no one to have livestock they want everyone to eat vegies it makes no since to me what is thier real purpose behind all this, they are on a power trip and now every one is jumping on the band wagon, It is time for us farmers and ranchers to stand up and fight these self rightous animal groups before they go after us and take our animals that we have raised and cared for since they were born.I have two angus cows that I bought from a feedlot in oklahoma when they were just a few hours old, I bottle raised then and now they are just had thier second calf they are my kids, along with my horse and goats and even my chickens and I can tell the animal rights people that they will never get thier hands on my four legged babies. They keep pushing and pushing some day some one is gana fight back, and then look out cause its gana hit the fan.

The agenda of Merch for Animals is clear. It is to make us all vegetarians, even if they use misleading videos and outright lies. Everyone needs to study the issues beyond what MFA has to say.

I agree with Mary. Research these issues, learn about factory farming, and then decide for yourself if vegetarianism is an appropriate ethical response. I think it is.

I agree with several things that were said. What I cannot understand is why regular family farmers put themselves in a group with factory farmers. The two are not the same. Factory farming is inherently cruel to the animals – small family farms are not. People need to understand the difference between the two. I buy no products from factory farms but at the same time, I’m proud to support small, humane farms. You can consume animal products and also prevent cruelty to animals…I do!!

It’s simply cruel to chain baby cows by the necks confined to tiny, filthy crates. Ohioans should be outraged this practice is legal in our state! Five other states have banned veal crates as well as the 27 countries of the E.U. It’s time Ohio gets onboard to end this inherently cruel practice.

The question was asked why “regular family farmers put themselves in a group with factory farmers.”

Usually, the farmers don’t put themselves in either group. An organization will classify them as family or factory, based on its own perception and sometimes without any measurable criteria.

Some organizations, like MFA, provide no acceptable standard other than to abandon all dairy and animal products and become vegan.

It is not cruel to tie baby calves to a wall by a leadrope or to put them in calf hutches. Truth is, calves in a group will suck on each other’s parts, like ears, navels, and reproductive organs and thereby ingest pathogens that make them sick while harming the calf being sucked. Separating calves is for the health and comfort of the calves! As long as they are fed and can lie down, they are fine.

If you outlaw all veal, what will become of the 51% of calves who are male born each year to dairy and beef cows? Cows have a calf every year, only some are girl calves that will be kept to become cows themselves in two years. Even in a beef herd, bull calves need to have something done with them. Feeding them out as veal or continuing their growth to become beef is what is done with these bulls.

If a farmer has NO outlet for his bull calves; no one to buy them, no one allowed to feed them on for veal or beef, the farmer will have to do “something” with them! Do you want farmers just euthanizing them, or worse? Why waste that animal when it can be grown to feed people, and creat jobs and livelihoods in the process?
If the farmer cannot fatten or sell his bull calves, the farmer will stop raising cattle–dairy or beef–altogether. And that is exactly the agenda of Mercy for Animals and HSUS! So say goodby to milk, creamer, butter, cheese, cheescake, sour cream, cottage cheese, hamburgers, steaks, ribs, and roast beef. Say goodby to all the income made by people who milk cows, are vets, make animal feeds, run locker facilities, work at butcher counters, work in the grocery and meat business, run dairies, bottle milk, make cheese, cook the stuff in restaurants, etc.

Two of my nephews raise Holstein and other breeds of calves for beef. Sure, a dairy breed doesn’t have the weight gain efficiency of beef cattle, but still, grass-fed Holstein steer makes for very tasty beef, much better than any veal I’ve ever had and better than store-bought beef too, for less $$ than what you’ll pay in a grocery store & you know they haven’t had to endure the conditions that we keep seeing in these videos.

To the comment by Chris Kick, my point was that if you are a farmer and treat animals humanely STOP ALIGNING YOURSELVES WITH MEGAFARMS! It is hurting you more than helping you. These mega/factory farms are the ones that have so many animals per worker that even if they wanted to take care of the animals, they couldn’t. If you are a decent, hard working farmer who treats animals humanely, SPEAK UP against these mega-farms who are putting you out of business and giving the entire farming industry a bad name!

August 31, 2010
A Few Questions for Ohio, Governor Strickland and Ohio Farm Bureau
Is Ohio’s economy in such great shape we can afford to lose 12.5 Billion dollars? Can Ohio stand more job loss? Governor Strickland and the Ohio Farm Bureau must think so.
I am not sure who is the better person for Governor of Ohio. I do know we need one who won’t take away any more of our rights. One who will not throw away an exotic animal industry worth 12.5 billion dollars according to Governor Strickland. An industry that according to Tim Harrison on the Ohio News Network (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s96mXGtCP0M) brings in 20.5 billion dollars a year nationwide. I voted last time for Ted Strickland, I don’t know if I would again.
I am an Exotic Animal Breeder and also have a small farm, and I depend a lot on my income from the animals. The ban on exotics at this time does not affect me, but I am afraid that down the road it will. I have a hard time believing in Governor Strickland. He made a back room deal on June 30 without any input from the public.
God put animals on this earth for man to use and eat. I believe in the Bible, which tells us God told Noah that man was to be ruler of the animals. He didn’t have Noah preserve the animals so that they could merely be looked at and admired. They are to be used. I don’t think anyone should beat, burn or abuse them. Ohio has good laws to address animal cruelty, and law enforcement needs to enforce those laws.
I take great pride in my animals. If the people of Ohio want to eat nothing but plants, they need to keep voting the way they are; but if Ohioans like meat in a meal, they need to vote for change. If they like their pets and want to keep them, they need to vote for change.
Mr. Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the U.S. wants no domestic animals. He has stated that more than once. I don’t care if it was 15 years ago or 15 minutes. The man said it, and we need to take him at his word. Ohio’s animal breeders for years have done a great job feeding Ohio and providing them with pets. If we let a man (Mr. Pacelle) who wants all domestic animals eradicated run Ohio, we are in trouble.
Governor Strickland and The Ohio Farm Bureau say we would not have beaten the HSUS’s ballot initiative this year, but Ohio approved the new Livestock Care Standards Board last year by a mile. This year, Governor Strickland and the Ohio Farm Bureau sold us out.
Is Governor Strickland a supporter of the HSUS, PETA, ALF, or ELF? Some of these have been identified as domestic terrorist organizations by the FBI, and they have ties to each other. Surely Ohio Farm Bureau knows what these organizations are, and how they’re connected to each other. So why would they sign the agreement that they did on June 30?
Commodity leaders say Ohio Farm Bureau’s Jack Fisher has nothing to do with exotic animals and dog breeding, yet he signed the agreement. The commodity leaders say the exotic animal and the dog breeding issues were all Governor Strickland’s and Wayne Pacelle’s idea. Why would a Governor want to kill a 12.5 billion dollar Ohio industry?
I wonder where Ohio’s farmers will go when Wayne Pacelle, Governor Strickland and the Ohio Farm Bureau drive domestic animals out of Ohio. Will there be a need for the soybean and corn growers to plant, with no cows, no hogs and no chickens to eat the corn and beans?
Ohio will not be a leader in anything, just one more state without a backbone, and a Statehouse staffed with back stabbers. Governor Strickland appoints the heads of ODA and a lot of the other Departments. Those may be about the only jobs in Ohio come 2011, if we don’t make changes in November. Ohio needs change in the Statehouse and in the Ohio Farm Bureau – we need leaders who don’t make back room deals and sell out their neighbors. If the same people are still in office next year, they will pull the heart out of Ohio.

maybe we should just not eat the poor animals

I don’t think dairy farmers need to close down, they need to train employees to treat the animals in a humane manner. I also saw the show Oprah did a few years ago and was so SICKENED! that I have not eaten or cooked a piece of veal since then. I check my store to see if any products come from Conklin or Apple Creek farms and if they do I WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING THEY PRODUCE! If people stop supporting these farms run by these HUMAN animals they may get the message. I would like to get the abusers in a locked room with a pitchfork and give them a taste of their own medicine and see how they liked it!

As for Vicki’s comment, I cannot even respond to such dark absurdity.

And if anyone wants to bring the Bible into it, you need to look at the very beginning, when Adam and Eve were in a state of perfection. In their state of perfection, before God exiled them from paradise and condemned them to short miserable lives, He gave them a vegan diet:

Genesis 1:29-31:
“And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Gen. 1 29-31)In fact both humans and non-humans were created to live in harmony, not eating each other.

It was only after the fall from perfection, exile from Paradise, and then after the Flood…only then do you see meat eating allowed…God had condemned humans to shortened miserable lives…eating dead flesh leads to heart disease and clogged arteries–cardiac surgeons are raking in billions from performing bypass surgeries and stent placements as an obese America clings to its suicidal attachment to meat and dairy, thereby ensuring the fulfillment of God’s curse upon humankind–short, miserable lives.

Hosea shows us the God-intended future, a future of harmony and peace among all God’s creatures:

Hosea 2:18: “I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the things that crawl on the ground. Bow and sword and war I will destroy from the land, and I will let them take their rest in security.”

Many argue that the Bible allows for meat eating—well, remember, the Bible also condones human slavery and the stoning to death of unruly children, behaviors that, with enlightenment, we have realized are wrong and no longer participate in.

Reverend/Dr. Greg Knox Jones, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church said in his sermon that, “How we treat the creatures of God’s creation says something important about where we are on our spiritual journey. If we are devoted to God, it will show in our love of God’s handiwork. Disregarding the value of what God has created says we do not think too much of the Creator.”

You can read his full sermon here:
http://www.all-creatures.org/gcm/articles-sermon-20070617.html

“Animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind’s capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don’t; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us.” Matthew Scully, author of the book ‘Dominion’

The problem is not with family farms nor “mega farms”, the problem lies in that fact that Animal Rights groups are allowed to operate above the law. MFA’s own founder/CEO violated biosecurity and illegally broke into every large egg farm in Ohio and nothing was done about it. Anyone that owns poultry should understand the problem with biosecurity, the entire population of chickens could have been affected any number of diseases.

How about the fact that after the Conklin dairy farm incident, a mop formed at that farm ready to tear it down. How many animals and people would have been hurt and/or killed had the police not been able to control it. Again, MFA started that issue. And most of all, doesn’t anyone other than myself find it odd that the last MFA video was released prior to a 3 day weekend when they have plans to setup booths all over the state to gain new membership?

I was raised to read and follow the bible, Genesis 9:3 says, “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

Kathleen Do you believe in GOD the Bible??

As usual videos like this are accused of being “misleading”… Perhaps the visuals incite more than most people like to see (regardless of what establishment they were taken from).

So here in just words are truths that any honest person in the industry would say is such:
Female cows are artificially inseminated as a constant practice. This must be done to keep her pregnant and birthing and lactating. Her calves are taken away within 24 hours. Most do this during dusk so the mother will not become to stressed by her stolen baby. If these calves are male or “excess” females – all being “unproductive” to the herd… They are often sent to the slaughterhouse within days. Many infants have their umbilical cords still attached. The rest of the information varies to degrees of “housing systems” that these calves are placed in But all males join their brothers/sisters at the same slaughterhouse when they reach 4 months old. And finally, when the mothers are “unproductive” they too are carted of to the butchers as well.
This is your dairy – Regardless of how small or large. These procedures must exist in order for the economics to work.

Now, there’s nothing in what I’ve stated that is not FACT. And the truth is that many people find such practices… (no matter how “nice” the conditions “veal” is raised in) – to be totally unacceptable. For those who fancy butter, milk, and cream – They’ve had to ask themselves: At what cost? Can these frivolous dairy items justify this kind of treatment (no matter how “nice”) to innocent babies and docile cows?

There’s no “emotional” graphic images here… Just standard practices of the dairy industry. In a nut shell: Steal the baby… To steal the milk. That’s it. We know that none of this is “necessary” – All mammals (including man) grow permanent adult teeth once they reach an age appropriate for weaning. So how can ethical adult humans justify this kind of treatment to these innocent beings? The truth is they simply can’t. And our days of ignorance – Are over.

So now we can add Mr.Kick to the covey of PR. and DC lobbyist henchmen spreading fearful and inconceivably ridiculous rumors that any support of ANY of the goals of the Humane Society or any other ‘animal rights activist’ leads directly to Government Enforced National Vegetarianism!

Purina and Monsanto and Tyson’s and McDonnell’s and Con-Agra and all the other multi-BILLION dollar multinational giants of the food industry will be driven out of town by The Mighty Wayne Pacelle!!!

DID EVERYBODY SLEEP THROUGH ECONOMICS CLASS?

well said Bea.
also…factory farms had it made in the shade raking in the dollars; until the consumers became aware of the facts. Farms were not farms like they thought. They are factories. Using animals like they are machines, not living breathing creatures that feel pain and fear.
HSUS and Wayne Pacelle are not “making” anyone vegan. The factory farms are turning people away by the droves from a meat diet. THe same with slaughter houses. Pesonally, I feel better knowing an animal did not have to suffer to feed me. There are great options to meat and dairy.

Here we go again folks, Bob Barker, the man that is a womanizer is attacking the the farmers. Geez, I think the all vegie/fruit diet has turned them all into Fruity Vegatables. No where in this video are animals abused. Just because you don’t eat veal or agree with how it’s raised doesn’t make it a crime. I don’t like the way today’s parents let the children slide by with a “time out” so does that make it a crime. You where that is leading….right down to the druggie/crime world.

People need to mind their own business, they took away the discipline of children, crime has increased 10 fold. Now the Vegans/Vegitarians want to end farming. Ingrid Newkirk leader of PETA thinks we should die so the animals will be free.

I got a suggestion all you non-meat eaters. If you don’t like the way we raise our food source, why don’t leave.

In response to Bea Elliott,

Sadly, it has been brought to the attention of the attorneys for the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions and Ohioans for Humane Farms that certain individuals (yes, we’re pretty sure we know who they are based on posts they have made to other websites) are finding it necessary to hide their opinions behind false identities (“Wayne” and “Mary Shaver”). I guess when one has no spine, one resorts to such tactics.

I can’t speak for Wayne (Pacelle) but I can assure you I do not hold to the beliefs expressed under the post for Mary Shaver.

Chaining baby animals by their necks for their entire short lives is inherently cruel. If that is deemed acceptable by a civilized society, our entire moral compass is off.

Cruelly treating baby animals so that YOU can drink breast milk, as a luxury (you don’t need it to live), is unacceptable.

This is our food people. These animals are our FOOD and they look pretty good to me. If you don’t like it, then don’t eat it. Leave the rest of us alone. MFA is a crackpot organization much like the HSUS that plays on uniformed peoples heart strings. They will get what is coming to them in the future. Veggies carry salmonella and other nasty little bacteria. Meat is good, especially steak cooked medium-rare. Man it’s time for lunch.

Rechel Here is what I found in the Bible were did you get the rest your from

Genesis 1:29-31 (King James Version)

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

20 “When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. 21 If the place that the Lord your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. 22 Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.

I can’t believe some of the comments on here. Cruelty in NOT acceptable. I don’t care how much money is involved, or who will be out of a job. If these idiots are treating the animals so horribly, close the facilities down. And as for the bible, does god say to treat the animals so terribly?? I would love to get ahold of any of these idiots and treat them as they have been treating the animals. And is veal really necessary?? confining these anmimals at 18 weeks/months, whatever it is, is the worst offense. I hope someone does a huge investigation on this and shuts them ALL down. Jobs and money, please!

I have a good Ideal let’s all stop raising beef, chicken, pork and stop milking our cows. The Vegans want us to shut down what they call factory farms. When they get them shut down, then they will shut the small farms down. That’s the Wayne Pacelle way. He likes to divide and conquer.

We can keep a few cows, hogs and Chickens for are self’s.

The Ohio Farm Bureau says its what the consumer wants. So let the consumer go hungry. After a few weeks of no food in the stores. Then maybe the consumer will reconsider. We don’t preach eat meat. It’s up to the consumer, what they eat. I think that since the consumer thinks we don’t know how to raise our animals. Maybe we should not raise Meat, Milk and eggs for the consumer.

I cut meat for a store for years. I can raise and butcher my own meat. I do know how to raise my own meat and eggs.

Let the consumer, Gov. Strickland, Vegans and Ohio Farm Bureau, eat vegs and fruit. Personally I don’t care if an Animal Rights Person goes hungry. There’s some grass in my yard they can eat. But on the other hand I don’t want them on my land. There is good chance they could make my animals sick.

Think about it why don’t we all stop shipping food out for a week or two. When the consumer goes to Grocery store and there’s no Milk, Eggs and Meat. The Consumer can only thank themselves. Governor Strickland, Wayne Pacelle and Commodity Leaders are going to Regulate our barn doors shut. We don’t have anything to loose. Thanks to Governor Strickland and his best friend Wayne Pacelle, wants Ohio Farmers to go out of business. What is sad, the Ohio Farm Bureau help shut the barn doors.

So Mary there is a link between, Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions,Ohioans for Humane Farms, Peta, ALF, ELF and HSUS we all ready know Some of these groups have been identified as domestic terrorist organizations by the FBI, and they have ties to each other HSUS we know has feed Ohioans for Humene Farms Tons of money this year

I definitely have not read all of these posts, but did notice that Chris Kick mentioned that he wanted to obtain Mercy For Animals’ statement from the Buckeye Veal Farms (www.MercyForAnimals.org/Veal) investigative release. I checked with all of my colleagues and I do not believe that MFA received any such request, so I will email it to you, Chris, right now. If you are ever trying to obtain MFA documentation, please feel free to contact me directly.

I did notice the comment by Mary and wanted to make sure that she knows that absolutely everything that Mercy For Animals has ever stated or released is absolutely true and will stand on its own in a court of law. If you have perceptions that lead you to believe otherwise, I would be happy to speak with you directly and can be reached at DanielH at MercyForAnimals dot org.

And regarding Chris’ comments on “factory” versus “family,” just like S.C. Johnson is “a family company,” when it comes down to the industrialization of farms, any company owned by a family tends to use this terminology, such as Country View Family Farms (www.mercyforanimals.org/pigs) where MFA documented horrible abuse, including severe neglect, such as piglets callously thrown like footballs, castrated with dull razors, and so forth.

I definitely encourage anyone interested in learning more about Mercy For Animals to check out our webpage where all of our beliefs are clearly stated and backed up with extensive documentation. Perhaps check out our history of investigations – every completed case has been released to the public, showing a shocking trend of cruelty, mutilations without painkillers and violence: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/investigations.aspx

You might want to check with colleague Corey Roscoe. She kindly forwarded me the initial release a week ago, the day before your embargoed press conferences were held.

That initial release, and Buckeye Veal’s initial releases, are now linked at the top of this article.

Mr. Hauff, I am curious as to why your organization feels that it is acceptable to violate people’s rights? Why it is acceptable to violate biosecurity? Why it is acceptable to abuse animals?

Your organization claims to be in support of better treatment of animals yet the actions of your organization are exactly the opposite. Your CEO violated Biosecurity and jeopardized every chicken when he broke into the egg farms a few years ago. Had he carried any type of infectious disease the entire facility could have be compromised and every chicken needlessly killed. I do not understand how your organization can think it is acceptable to abuse animals on your own video tape then stand back and state it was okay because you were undercover, abuse is abuse. How can your organization think it is acceptable to destroy someone’s livelihood? How would you feel if someone came to your house and destroyed it and you have a wife and children who depended on you for food, shelter, and clothing?

I do not tolerate abuse of any animal but I do report violations to the proper authority and yes, I have seen action taken place. I don’t break into someone’s property and commit criminal acts. Why does your organization and others like yours think you are above the law and that you can commit crimes in the name of animal rights? I find it hard to believe when groups such as yours claim the authorities will not do anything when I have reported violations seen it acted upon within days of the report.

If you truly care about Animal Welfare then why not work with authorities instead of committing criminal acts and violence against humans. It seems that most Animal Rights organizations are only out to make a name and get in the news; they could really care less about the animals. It’s all about being on TV. Has anyone from your organization attended even 1 of the Care Standards Board meetings or any other Agriculture meetings to voice your concerns and have your side heard? I would guess your answer will be no.

I am not a vegetarian and probably will never be one. I will tell you I saw the “Conklin Dairy Farm Torture Video”, and honest people with a conscience can have no other name for it, and I was outraged. Had I been a neighbor of those scumbags there is no telling what I would have done. Anyway, since that video was released I have joined MFA as a financial supporter and have reducted by consumption of dairy products by about 95%. I have also reduced by meat intake by about 70%. I FEEL GREAT! I’m 51 years old, ride a bike and lift weights most every day. My stomach and entire digestive system feels renewed and my energy levels are way up! BTW, I’m a big, macho guy and have always thought vegetarians were a little weird. So much for what I used to think. Back to the animals – I was totally disgusted by the animal industry’s “circling of the wagons” regarding the Conklin Dairy Farm video release by MFA. Look, I do not agree we all should give up all animal products or anything so radical, but I will tell you this. There is never any excuse for anyone at anytime to do the things pictured in the video we all saw and the folks that do those things are pu$$ies and psychologically incomplete. None of the crap the industry is trying to tell us makes any sense to me. Obviously the public demands cheap stuff – hence the popularity of cheap junk made in China and sold at Wal-Mart. The public gets what it wants by voting with their pocketbook. Industry simply obliges us all. I for one buy mostly Organic, free range, grass fed…etc and do not mind paying more for it. Until more folks do the same we will be watching animal torture videos and supporting the industries that do it. If folks want a change then they need to get the message out and support the farmers and animal producers that are doing the right things and shun the folks that see no value in an animal other than what it can fetch at market. I support ethical farmers, I recycle all I can and I try to teach my children the same.

Just how many calves and cattle in general has Bob Barker raised that he is such an authority on raising cattle that he has a right to tell us farmers how to raise them??? The same goes for all the anti-farmer comments made above…It is CRYSTAL CLEAR that NONE have raised cattle at all. There is a reason cattle (and other livestock) are raised as they are-and it is NOT to be cruel to them!! Tieing calves IS NOT CRUEL in ANY way, shape, or form, PERIOD!!! It is to prevent them from sucking on each other and causing infections from developing, which are EXTREMELY common when they do suck on each other.

It is pathetically sad that people are not willing to admit that they know nothing about a subject they give comments about (like ACTUALLY having alot of experience raising animals they comment on)-then have the complete audacity to attack those of us who KNOW and have VAST experience raising these animals…Animals DO NOT think like humans-but yet these same people who are totally clueless about these animals inject human characteristics, thoughts, and values into them…

It is needed to mentioned again that the undercover worker for MFA HIMSELF abused cattle at the Conklin farm to goad the other abuser into abusing the cattle-yet MFA has NO problem with that..Also MFA decieves weak minded people by NOT telling them how many hundreds of hours taped produced NO abuse, and how many farms that were “infiltrated” and taped that showed NO abuse whatsoever: kind of like the thought that if you watch enough bank surveillance tapes,sooner or later youll see a robbery, then calling all bank customers “thieves”.

These actions by animal rights groups and individuals against us farmers is far beyond true concern for animals, and completely into the realm of control and oppression towards farmers. It should NOT be tolerated at all. It is completely based on lies, deception, and most importantly-brainwashing of weak minded people who have never raised livestock and do not understand that animal behavior/logic differs completely from that of humans.

yada, yada, yada… One thing is very clear to any clear thinking individual no matter what your agenda is: “SOME” folks that raise animals for a living “NEED TO DO A MUCH BETTER JOB IN CARING FOR THEIR ANIMALS AN ENSURING THE ANIMALS ARE NOT TREATED WITH THE HORRIFIC ABUSE (and their is really no other word for it) THAT WAS SEEN ON THE CONKLIN DAIRY FARM VIDEOL. There are certainly many sides to this issue, but one thing IS clear: slamming down baby cows, stabbing cows in the udders with pitchforks and tying them to poles through their noses and beating them in the head and face is just plain wrong. It’s as wrong as abusing a human child and you can say what you want about MFA, if they had not reported it Conklin Dairy Farm would still be a place where animals are tortured. I applaud them for their actions. I’m not a vegetarian, but I stopped consuming dairy products because I am aware of their negative impact on my health. Likewise I eat little meat these days. People need to wise up and do the right thing when considering how to treat the animals that supply them with a living. This can not be disputed. There is never any reason to torture any creature, human or not and on this I hope we can all agree.

Mr. Kick, on 8/31/10 above in the comments section, you state “Also hoping to provide active link to Buckeye Veal’s full statement to media, as well as MFA’s full initial statement.” You did not have this until I emailed it to you much after the fact when I saw your comment of 8/31. The news release that Ms. Roscoe sent you the day before the news conferences is not a statement – that is simply an invitation for media sources to attend a news conference.

I was hoping you would be in attendance to the Gregg hearing when he plead guilty and was sentenced as I wanted to show you additional evidence of the owner and other employees at the facility abusing animals and being aware of Gregg’s abuse of the animals. I felt it might shed some light on the situation and help your publication end the passive/aggressive false allegations if you could see Gary Conklin in the room as a newborn calf is carelessly dumped from a wheel barrel, or to watch two other staff members drop newborn calves from standing height rather than set them down, or to watch a long time employee jab cows with pitchforks and claim that Gary Conklin beats animals and listen to Gregg brag about his and the long time employee’s (and another employee on top of that) violent abuse of cows at Conklin Dairy.

This could lead to an excellent follow up story for Farm & Dairy – you could interview Gary Conklin and inquire as to why he continued to employ an individual who bragged on hidden camera about his violence to newborn calves and their mothers at Conklin Dairy Farms. Or another employee who drops newborn calves from standing height. Or why he continues to employ himself if he thinks dumping newborn animals out of wheel barrels is acceptable.

LCampbell and POed are both greatly misinformed and I renew my offer to speak with you or anyone from the public about Mercy For Animals and our investigations. You can reach me at DanielH at MercyForAnimals dot org. I’m was really just replying to Mr. Kick given his statement to me. I’m just on here randomly, so if you have something to ask or state for my benefit, please address them to me via email or phone so that I will actually see them. Thank you.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BABY COWW! :(