I’m so sad that Mercy For Animals has uncovered yet more rampant abuse at a dairy farm. This time, it’s Winchester Dairy whose employees committed egregious acts of abuse to cows and calves. Winchester Dairy supplies milk for Leprino Foods, who is the “primary cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s restaurants nationwide.”

“Of all the atrocity videos I have examined on behalf of various animal advocacy groups, this one may well depict the most prolonged, and severest pain being inflicted on innocent, non-ambulatory dairy cattle. … It is clear that the workers enjoy this infliction of pain and suffering, and even make remarks to that effect. … Of equal concern is the overall lack of training in animal care husbandry practices as well as in the importance to the social ethic of these types of unacceptable animal abuse. We all hold the owners/managers equally responsible for this egregious behavior!” — renowned animal welfare experts Drs. Bernard Rollin and Terry Engle and Mr. William Wailes from the animal science department at Colorado State University

WARNING: The video is graphic and horrifying. It’s all depressing, but the worst part is when a dead, unborn calf is ripped out of his mother in pieces by the use of chains — and the cow has no anesthesia or veterinary supervision. The cow died the following day. Please refuse to purchase dairy products. Animal abuse in the food industry is the norm, not the exception. And even if cows were not being kicked, or punched, or electrically shocked, the dairy industry is inherently cruel for its forced pregnancy and destruction of familial bonds, and moreover, for its perpetuation that animals are commodities.