A disturbing article in Farmers Forum, the largest circulation farm newspaper in Ontario, claims that the criminal behaviour MFA Canada recently documented at the country’s largest dairy factory farm is not only perfectly acceptable, but also “not unusual” on dairy farms.
At Chilliwack Cattle Sales, MFA Canada exposed:
- Workers viciously kicking, punching, beating, and hitting cows in the face and body with chains, metal pipes, rakes, and canes
- Sick and injured cows suffering from open wounds, oozing infections, and
painful injuries left to suffer without proper veterinary care - Workers using chains and tractors to lift sick and injured cows into the
air by their necks while punching their faces and screaming obscenities
at them - Workers poking and squeezing festering wounds, ripping clumps of hair
out of cows’ sensitive tails, and punching bulls in the testicles
Following the investigation, law enforcement raided the facility and now eight workers face criminal cruelty to animals charges. The company itself continues to undergo investigation for its role in the abuse.
The article in Farmer Forum, written by a dairy farmer, minimizes the gruesome injuries as “sore feet and legs” and the vicious, ceaseless beatings as merely “hitting” a “reluctant” cow.
In explaining why he considers it acceptable to wrap chains around the necks of cows too sick and injured to even stand and drag them into the air, the dairy farmer points out that the milking equipment is worth $750,000 while the cows are only worth $1,500. He suggests that it makes better economic sense to hurt the animals rather than the machines.
Consumers who refuse to support a profit-hungry industry that defends and minimizes criminal animal abuse can visit ChooseVeg.ca for information on eating plant-based foods. Thankfully, it has never been easier or more delicious to ditch dairy for good.
