Three people have been charged with animal cruelty after the release of video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves at Fair Oaks Farms, a northwest Indiana dairy farm that’s an agritourism destination.
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday identified the three people charged, a day after announcing it had filed misdemeanor charges for the beating of a vertebrate animal. They are Santiago Ruvalcaba Contreros, 31; Edgar Gardozo Vazquez, 36; and Miguel Angel Navarro Serrano, 38.
The sheriff’s office said it was still trying to locate the men and has not yet made arrests.
The investigation is continuing and more interviews are being conducted, it added.
Richard Couto, the founder of the animal welfare group that filmed and released the undercover video showing the abuse at the farm, said the arrests are “a step in the right direction” but don’t go far enough to hold the farm accountable.
“The absence of these three individuals will lead to little to no change for the cows,” he said. “It’s clear in our video the newborn calves are suffering and dying due to the absence of their mothers. How does corporate change occur with a simple firing and arrest of three entry level workers?”
Couto’s Miami-based Animal Recovery Mission released video last week showing calves at Fair Oaks being thrown into their huts, hit and kicked in the head, dragged by the ears and burned with branding irons by workers, as well as the carcasses of dead calves piled together. Fairlife milk, a popular brand of protein-rich milk launched by the owners of Fair Oaks Farms and Coca-Cola, was pulled from the shelves of numerous retailers, including Jewel-Osco, Tony’s Fresh Market and Pete’s Fresh Market.
The video has galvanized animal welfare activists, who organized protests Monday in Chicago, where Fairlife is headquartered, as well as in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, where Coca-Cola is based.
“This is a pinnacle turning point” for the animal welfare cause, said Robert Grillo, founder of Chicago-based animal rights group Free From Harm. “We want people to reject dairy and embrace alternatives.”
Grillo was among about two dozen protesters gathered outside of Fairlife’s West Loop headquarters, carrying signs that read “All Dairy is Cruel” and “If You’re a Calf, Fairlife is a Bad Life.” One large banner defined “Speciesism” as when “we decide who suffers for profit, just because you were born a different species than us.”
Grillo told the group not to believe that “a few bad apples” were responsible for the abuse revealed at Fair Oaks.
“The truth is, the conditions at Fair Oaks Farms are not the exception, they are the norm,” said Grillo, who described standard dairy farm practices such as the removal of newborn calves from their mothers and regular impregnation of cows so that they lactate as “inherently cruel.”
Grillo said he was not satisfied with the county’s investigation, which he said goes after low-level workers rather than holding the owners of the farm accountable for “creating a culture of abuse.”
Located about 80 miles southeast of Chicago, Fair Oaks was established in 2004 by Mike and Sue McCloskey to be a place where people could learn more about where their food comes from. A working dairy with some 35,000 cows, it has been compared to a Disneyland theme park with tours like Dairy Adventure, where families and school groups can witness the “fun-filled life of a cow.”
Mike McCloskey, a veterinarian-turned-farmer, said in a video posted to the farm’s Facebook last week that the footage “broke my heart and created a sadness I will have to endure for the rest of my life.” He apologized and announced numerous measures to ensure abuse “will not happen again.”
McCloskey said he had identified five people in the video as committing the abuse, four of them employees who have been fired and one a truck driver who would not be allowed back on the premises. Couto said more people than that were involved.
McCloskey vowed to install security cameras anywhere on the property animals interact with people and showcase the live feed in an animal welfare exhibit the farm will create as part of its Dairy Adventure tour. He also has arranged for an animal welfare group to conduct unannounced audits of the farm every two to four weeks, and plans to hire an employee dedicated to monitoring and educating employees on proper treatment of the animals daily.
Fair Oaks on Monday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fairlife said in a statement last week that it was devastated by the alleged abuse and immediately suspended deliveries from Fair Oaks, which is one of 30 dairies that supply milk to the brand and accounts for 5% of its milk supply. It said it was increasing animal training for employees and increasing the number of unannounced audits required for suppliers from one to 24 per year. It also is demanding a zero-tolerance policy for animal abuse among its supplying farms.
Fair Oaks, which said it draws about 500,000 tourists a year, has temporarily suspended its home delivery service of milk, cheese and other products, available in parts of Indiana, in part to protect drivers it says are facing harassment over the video.
Couto, who worked as a real estate developer before founding Animal Recovery Mission nine years ago to investigate animal cruelty, said the responses from the companies fall short. He is calling for the McCloskeys to commit to keeping newborn calves with their mothers and to stop sending male calves to the veal market.
McCloskey, in a statement last week, said he wasn’t aware Fair Oaks calves were being sent to veal slaughterhouses, and promised to halt the practice. Midwest Veal issued a statement last week that said 4% percent of its calves came from Fair Oaks.
Couto said taking calves from their mothers is the core issue leading to the beatings. He said the babies decline to suckle from artificial nipples and workers get frustrated. In addition, many calves die of malnutrition because they don’t eat, he said.
The video from Fair Oaks was shot by an undercover investigator who posed as a calf care employee from August to November last year. Couto said after going on Fair Oaks’ Dairy Adventure tour last year he targeted the dairy to show that the image it portrayed of happy cows was not the reality.
The Associated Press contributed.
aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @alexiaer
