Conklin Dairy Farms Animal Abuse Video Goes Viral
Posted:
05/26/10
New video footage of employees savagely beating cows with tools and their fists at Conklin Dairy Farms in Plain City, Ohio (near Columbus) has attracted enormous attention from the Web and prompted the farm's owner, Gary Conklin, to release a statement condemning the display and calling for the immediate termination of those involved.
"We intend to cooperate fully with authorities in this situation. Further, our farm will institute immediate retraining of all those who remain on the farm and who work with our animals," Conklin said, according to the Dayton Business Journal.
WARNING: The video footage is extremely graphic
The video was taken undercover by Mercy For Animals, a non-profit animal rights activist group. Last year, it published a widely-circulated video of baby male chicks being ground up alive inside another factory located in Ohio owned by a separate company.
Regarding this case, the Mercy For Animals website includes a statement that reads: "Upon completion of the investigation, Mercy For Animals contacted the City Prosecutor's Office of Marysville regarding the ongoing pattern of abuse at Conklin Dairy Farms. MFA is pushing for employees of the facility to be criminally prosecuted for violating Ohio's animal cruelty laws."
According to Ohio law, depending on how the prosecutor's office comes down, Conklin employees might face misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and the company itself could be subject to penalties requiring the forfeiture of all of livestock and prohibitions to "own or care for any companion animals for a specified or indefinite period of time."
The Huffington Post also noted that "since 1995, Conklin Dairy Farms has received almost $36,000 in federal farm subsidies," including $12,000 from the USDA last year alone.
"We intend to cooperate fully with authorities in this situation. Further, our farm will institute immediate retraining of all those who remain on the farm and who work with our animals," Conklin said, according to the Dayton Business Journal.
WARNING: The video footage is extremely graphic
The video was taken undercover by Mercy For Animals, a non-profit animal rights activist group. Last year, it published a widely-circulated video of baby male chicks being ground up alive inside another factory located in Ohio owned by a separate company.
Regarding this case, the Mercy For Animals website includes a statement that reads: "Upon completion of the investigation, Mercy For Animals contacted the City Prosecutor's Office of Marysville regarding the ongoing pattern of abuse at Conklin Dairy Farms. MFA is pushing for employees of the facility to be criminally prosecuted for violating Ohio's animal cruelty laws."
According to Ohio law, depending on how the prosecutor's office comes down, Conklin employees might face misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and the company itself could be subject to penalties requiring the forfeiture of all of livestock and prohibitions to "own or care for any companion animals for a specified or indefinite period of time."
The Huffington Post also noted that "since 1995, Conklin Dairy Farms has received almost $36,000 in federal farm subsidies," including $12,000 from the USDA last year alone.