Emaciated Cows Found Mired in Manure at North Carolina Dairy Farm
PETA Video Prompts Emergency Inspections of Facility
For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2014
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
PETA has obtained video footage of emaciated and lame cows trudging through a pool of their own liquified manure at a Haywood County dairy farm that supplies milk to Piedmont Milk Sales, an intermediary to the greater dairy industry. The video shows that the farm’s waste pit hasn’t been emptied in so long that the manure in it has hardened, with excess waste so high that the cows must wade through it up to their knees. It splatters onto their udders just before they’re milked and has left a number of animals—some of whom also suffer from emaciation and lameness—with skin ulcers and painful hoof ailments. Flies swarm around the cows, who stand in the waste while eating. At night, they have no grass, straw, or bedding to lie on in order to escape the manure.
PETA’s findings prompted the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to conduct an emergency inspection of the farm. Local law-enforcement officials plan to investigate the animals’ condition, and the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services is investigating health concerns related to the production of the farm’s milk.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, “Animals are not ours to eat … or abuse in any other way”—is calling on Piedmont and all grocery chains that sell milk to take prompt, meaningful action to monitor the lives of cows and calves on their milk suppliers’ farms.
“Shoppers have no idea that some of the milk on their grocery stores’ shelves may come from farms like this one, where cows suffer from lameness and must wade knee deep through their own waste,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “The cruel and disgusting conditions that PETA found are enough to turn anyone’s stomach—and prompt a switch to soy or almond milk.”
Photographs from the dairy are available here. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
