BIRNAMWOOD, WI (WTAQ) - The owner of a central Wisconsin farm vows to prevent future dairy cow abuse, after the group Mercy for Animals brought in an undercover employee who shot video.
The group held a news conference in Milwaukee Wednesday, and released a video from this summer. It showed workers at the Andrus farm near Birnamwood spraying cows in the face, and cutting off their tails with pruning shears.
Farm owner Alan Andrus said his family was shocked to see some of its employees not following appropriate animal-handling practices. They were also shocked that an employee would shoot video without going to the owners first, or taking action to protect the animals.
The group also made sure folks in Cleveland knew about this. That's because Andrus indirectly supplies milk to Great Lakes Cheese in Ohio, which said it would no longer accept cheese made from milk at the Andrus farm.
Shawano County prosecutors said they would not press charges, saying there's not enough evidence that a crime was committed.
Andrus said his farm will increase its oversight of animal handling, and make employees sign a commitment to care for them properly. He said the workers are getting training from local veterinarians.
It was not disclosed whether any employees were fired -- like two people were last year when the same Mercy for Animals group shot undercover video of cow mistreatment at a dairy at Greenleaf.
The group is based in Los Angeles and advocates vegetarian and vegan lifestyle choices. Critics say the firm puts out highly-edited videos which don't represent the dairy industry at large.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)