Bearing Witness to Conklin Farm Abuse

 

by Susie 

After viewing the Mercy for Animals video and getting over the initial outrage that I felt, and many of you have expressed, it made me think of all the daily suffering that occurs on dairies all over the U.S. I know that there are people out there who are writing off this incident as isolated, but my experience has shown that such abuse is not an anomaly.

Many of you may be surprised to learn that most of the animals who come to our shelters do not arrive here as the friendly, outgoing and playful beings visitors meet during our sanctuary tours. Most tremble with fear, others practically run up walls to get away from humans or even cry out in anguish when they first arrive. While their physical wounds heal, some of the animals never quite recuperate mentally and emotionally from the abuse they endured before their rescue, and we don’t put them in a position to have to interact with people, unless it is necessary for their care — and even then, we only expose them to caregivers they are accustomed to being with.

Once here, most of our residents start to trust and bond with humans, and for the overwhelming majority, this comes naturally. Animals who are lucky enough to have been born here (of mothers arriving in late term pregnancy), or come to us at a very young age, are often the most trusting and affectionate. Making an animal fearful of humans requires prolonged and egregious abuse. The fact that so many animals arrive at our shelters terrified of humans has proved to us that abuse is a routine part of most farm animals’ lives and no animal comes out of the industry, if they do at all, completely unscathed. After all, fear is not the response you get from a domesticated animal who’s been treated kindly.

Sadly, the types of abuses that traumatize animals are systemic in the dairy industry. I have spoken to large animal vets, and even people who run small dairies, and have been told that you need to shock downed postpartum cows with prods or kick them in order to get them up, or they will just lay there and die. This is not only barbaric and unacceptable, but also completely unnecessary. Here, at Farm Sanctuary, we have a harness attached to our tractor that can lift downed cows to their feet. There are humane ways to get a cow to stand up, yet shock prods are standard in the industry – probably only because it’s simply easier for hurried workers. Shocking farm animals with prods is every bit as cruel as kicking and punching them, but this happens every single day on farms and our society turns a blind eye.


Pancho and Filipe, two sweet calves rescued by Farm Sanctuary in March. 

If you’ve ever spent any time around these gentle animals, it is horrifying that someone would go to the extremes we witnessed in the Conklin Dairy video when dealing with them. We saw at least one man take out his intense anger on these innocent animals, many of whom were unable to move to get away from him. But while the perpetrators’ actions were beyond cruel, they are merely symptomatic of a system that views farm animals as commodities in a society that offers little, if any, legal protections to ensure their welfare. This video forces us to bear witness to the consequences of this extremely flawed system of our own creation, but as painful as it is to watch, the animals are the ones who suffer the most.

At our New York Shelter, we recently gave refuge to six beautiful Holstein calves and one, Amigo, looks almost identical to the calf at the beginning of the video who is being stomped and kicked. Amigo was left to die, tied to a tractor, sick and starving in Pennsylvania, but now after weeks of care and rehabilitation, he is finally growing into a sweet, happy and frolicking boy who is deeply loved by everyone who meets him. That calf on the Conklin’s Ohio farm is no different from Amigo, who just wants to be loved and cared for, and was unfortunate enough to be born into an industry that disregarded his well-being.

 
Teddy (front) and Amigo (back), two of the calves we gave refuge to in March, frolic in the pasture. 

In other parts of the video, we see calves beaten and thrown because they would not take a bottle or it became difficult for workers to tube feed them. These animals are tiny newborns and likely were sick because they were taken away from their mothers and not allowed to get the vital nutrients they needed from their mothers’ milk.

We have rescued pregnant cows who have given birth at Farm Sanctuary. Their babies thrived and had a different look about them – a look of confidence from being able to stay near their mothers, nurse at leisure, and frolic without a care in the pasture. The calves in the video are not carefree, not able to nurse from their mothers and look frightened – just like the six calves we rescued not long ago, bringing home the fact that this happens everywhere, not just at the Conklin farm. 

The dairy industry, by its very nature, is cruel. Taking babies away from their mothers hours after they are born, discarding male dairy calves like trash, keeping cows in a constant cycle of impregnation, birthing and milking, preventing animals from having access to the basics of a natural life, and subjecting them to rough handling is unconscionable, but commonplace, and for that reason alone, people rationalize that it is okay. It remains to be seen whether we’ll be able to bring the abused calves and cows from the Conklin video to safety, but we must never lose sight that while we don’t personally know the animals who are still trapped and suffering on farms everywhere, they are all living, breathing individuals, deserving of our kindness and compassion.

P.S. – As I was posting this, we received word from the Union County Humane Society that the perpetrator originally arrested in this case, Billy Joe Gregg, has been charged today with one count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, a felony of the fourth degree. Please stay tuned for more updates as this case unfolds.

Top photo: Amigo at Farm Sanctuary.

Comments

[Farm Sanctuary]

Thanks for your comments, everyone - it is so encouraging that there are also so many compassionate people like you out there. The investigation is ongoing, and we don't yet have any additional news to report, but we remain vigilant in following the case and are committed to helping any animals we can. We'll keep you posted on progress and thanks again for all your support.

[Tina Schmaltz]

I'm happy to know there are farm sanctuarys like yours where these poor animals can be treated with kindness. I watched the Conklin Farms video and cried almost as soon as it started. I don't understand why or how any human being could be this cruel to an animal. The poor cows and calves had no way to defend themselves and you can tell how frightened they are but these people kept on beating them to death. Does anyone know if the calves and/or cows are still alive or if they tried to cover the evidence by killing them and burying the bodies? I pray every night for the animals and signed the petition for better treatment of all farm animals. I hope everyone who looks this up goes to the petition website and signs up.

[Zuleyma]

What animals endure in terms of cruelty and sickening abuse is something that we must think about when we walk into every grocery store and see all the animal products which come from these torture chambers that we call "farms". These products are tainted with their agony and pain. Please be conscientious and stop supporting the very system which is abusing the helpless sentient beings which feel and love like we do. We must not marginalize them or be arrogant in adopting an incorrect and twisted perspective that just because we have controlled and contained these beings that we can beat and traumatize them with such unspeakable abuse. We must have the guts and courage to protect them and to say that ABUSE IS UNACCEPTABLE AND MUST STOP NOW!

[Rose Garcia Ogorzaly]

Having been an anti-bullfight activist for over a decade, I am not shocked at the abuse the calves and cows endure! Bulls, cows and calves are tortured and killed in bullfights (corridas) in Spain, Portugal, southern France, and in many Latin American countries!

They even have "baby bullfights" in Spain where young boys torture and kill calves. Cows are also killed by both women and male matadors. Bullfgiht "schools" in Spain teach their youths numerous ways to inflict pain and cause suffering to bovines of all ages!
And these are tolerated and encouraged under the guise of "culture and art."

Like the pig and horse, bovines are some of the most abused anmals in the world!

[Ashley Browning]

This article brought me to tears. I am so thankful that there are places like this who take in unloved animals and show them what love is. I pray everyday for the cows at Conklin Farms and I hope that they are given to Sanctuary Tails so that they may live the rest of their lives with peace like they deserve.

[Big Al]

It is beyond disturbing to see such inhumane behavior towards a domesticated animal held completey at the mercy of its owner/captor.
Let's not forget that we are all complicit in these crimes when we continue to support the industry as it is by buying meat and dairy products without review or oversight.

[John Carbonaro]

In general, all animal use is abuse, since in essence they don't belong to us.

[Heather Sinclair]

I found it extremely difficult to watch that video, it broke my heart to see not just adult cows being beaten but babies too...i see that and feel so helpless, i cannot defend them nor reassure them, i was forced to watch something i had no control over, i forced myself because i feel it is important to see what is happening, it makes me so angry and this anger will make me fight for them. After watching that cruel video i then watched another video about farm life and what the animals have suffreed and have decided to go vegetarian. It just sickens me that people can be so cruel to these little beasts, they do not deserved that. It would be interesting to see the reactions if someone were to make a video about cruelty on farms but use human actors instead( and computer generated babies) but put them in situations that these animals have to endure, it would cause outrage but what is the difference between a cow/pig/chicken and a human? we are all living, we all deserve respect and a happy, carefree life yet through the hands of humans these animals are denied that. I hope that somethng can be done and i hope that laws will change so that this abuse stops.

[Cindy Wines]

This is so sad. These are living, breathing animals that can feel pain and have personalities. Why are they so cruel, Why??? Are these people mental or have something against these gentle creatures. Why do they have to take away the babies so soon?
At least wait until they are weaned. Jane Velez Mitchell needs to have this on her show again, There must be public outrage, a new law, The USDA must be more vigilent!!!

[lea]

i dont understand why people have to be so cruel to animals. it breaks my heart and makes me hate the human race. i feel so helpless and would like to go to every abused animal and rescue them. and i would love to do what they do to these animals to the humans. i hate that people are so cruel. i just dont know what to do, i wish people felt the way all animal lovers did

[DeAnn Higginbotham White]

Thank God for Farm Sanctuary and wonderful people like you Susie!!! Keep up the great work and writing. As for the barbarians that have no clue to what their ignorance and brutality has done to traumatize the poor animals. I pray God's vengence is seen sooner than later.

[minnersmom]

You've spoken eloquently here and from someone like me who was rocked to the core by this video, yet admittedly not well-versed in the daily riggors of farming livestock, I appreciate but am still saddened to learn this probably wasn't an isolated incident (as I've read many time since last week). Maybe the majority of other farms don't have the height of cruelty dispalyed at Conklin, but like you said, using eletric prods and kicks to get cows to stand up - that breaks my heart. You folks seem to be able to do it humanely...are other places in such a hurry that they can't treat these animals nicely at all? Don't we all know you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? And what about the Golden Rule? It's a basic life lesson that we all should follow much more closey. I appreciate your post, and will follow. Also - Glad to hear Billy Joe got another charge under his belt. Step in the right direction.