Our friends at Animals Australia have released video footage from an undercover investigation at a slaughterhouse in Northern Victoria showing young calves being pushed, hit, dragged, and illegally shocked with electric prods, in an effort to move them onto the kill floor. These unwanted baby animals are considered “waste products” by the Australian dairy industry, which violently slaughters approximately 700,000 calves each year.
Although Animals Australia lodged a formal complaint with the Department of Primary Industries–the governmental agency charged with overseeing the agricultural industry–citing multiple violations of Victorian animal cruelty laws at this facility, incredibly no criminal charges have been filed.
Watch the disturbing video footage here:
Dairy industry cruelty is certainly not limited to Australia. Mercy For Animals has conducted four undercover investigations at dairy operations across the United States, and every single one of these investigations has led to criminal cruelty charges and convictions of workers and managers who were caught on video maliciously abusing animals.
Most recently, hidden-camera video footage secretly recorded by an MFA investigator at Bettencourt Dairies, one of the largest dairies in the country and a Burger King cheese supplier, led to the arrest of two workers and a manager. Workers were caught on video viciously beating and shocking cows, violently twisting their tails in order to deliberately inflict pain, and dragging a downed cow by her neck using a chain attached to a tractor. In January, worker Jesus Garza pled guilty to criminal cruelty to animals.
Time and again, the dairy industry proves to be one of the cruelest and most corrupt industries on the planet. Thankfully, concerned consumers can help prevent needless violence and cruelty to animals by ditching dairy in favor of healthy and humane plant-based alternatives to milk, cheese, and ice cream. Visit ChooseVeg.com to learn more.