Three former farm employees are charged with animal cruelty after footage showed calves being kicked

blog

Three former employees at an Indiana dairy farm have been charged with animal cruelty after shocking undercover video footage showed dozens of calves being kicked, beaten and burned.

Newton County Sheriff's Office said officers were searching for the three suspects following the alleged animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. 

The disturbing video shows workers at the farm brutalizing the calves in their enclosures, throwing them into trucks and stepping on their bodies.

It was secretly recorded last year by an investigator for Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) who went undercover as a worker at the farm, which is a very popular destination for school field trips and has links to Coca-Cola.  

Police have now identified the three suspects Santiago Ruvalcaba Contreros, 31, Edgar Gardozo Vazquez, 36 and Miguel Angel Navarro Serrano, 38. 

Prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor beating of a vertebrate animal, and arrest warrants were issued for the men.

Many of the conversations in the video released by the Miami-based Animal Recovery Mission involved people speaking Spanish. 

Investigators said other 'persons of interest' were being interviewed in the case. 

According to ARM, the footage shows the 'daily mistreatment of the resident farm animals' at the farm's dairies about 70 miles south of Chicago.

'In our 10 years of being undercover, we have never seen such consistent, constant abuse to a newborn baby animal,' ARM Founder Richard Couto said in the video.

Horrifying undercover footage shows dozens of calves being kicked, beaten and burned at a dairy farm in Indiana that has ties with Coca-Cola. This photo shows a dead calf inside its hut

Horrifying undercover footage shows dozens of calves being kicked, beaten and burned at a dairy farm in Indiana that has ties with Coca-Cola. This photo shows a dead calf inside its hut 

The disturbing video shows workers at Fair Oaks Farms brutalizing the calves in their enclosures, throwing them into trucks and stepping on their bodies. This photo shows a worker grabbing the baby cow by its ears and dragging it through the dirt

The disturbing video shows workers at Fair Oaks Farms brutalizing the calves in their enclosures, throwing them into trucks and stepping on their bodies. This photo shows a worker grabbing the baby cow by its ears and dragging it through the dirt 

The video shows newborn calves being thrown in and out of their huts by employees, young calves being kicked in the head and the carcasses of dead calves piled together in the dirt.

Sheriff Thomas VanVleet said Monday in a statement that 'details of the investigation cannot be released at this time as this investigation is still active.'

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

Farm officials say that Fair Oaks draws about 500,000 tourists a year.

Newton County Prosecutor Jeff Drinski said that Fair Oaks Farms 'has cooperated completely in our attempts to identify and interview all persons involved in the videos that we have all viewed over the past week.'

Fair Oaks Farms founder Mike McCloskey said in a statement last week that four employees seen in the video had been fired and actions have been taken to prevent further abuse. 

Animal Recovery Mission (ARM), an animal rights group, released the graphic video last Tuesday

Animal Recovery Mission (ARM), an animal rights group, released the graphic video last Tuesday

This photo shows the moment a worker at the farm threw a calf into its enclosure without any care

This photo shows the moment a worker at the farm threw a calf into its enclosure without any care

A fifth person shown in the video was a third-party truck driver who was transporting calves, he said.

Fair Oaks Farms is the flagship farm for Fairlife, a national brand of higher protein, higher calcium and lower fat milk. 

Some retailers have also pulled Fairlife products from their shelves, including Chicago-area groceries Jewel-Osco and Strack & Van Til and Family Express, which operates convenience stores across Indiana.

On Friday, Fair Oaks Farms suspended its home delivery service of milk, cheese and other products for one week, in part to protect drivers it says are facing harassment over the video.

Rachel Taylor, a spokeswoman for ARM, said: 'Due to the many years Fair Oaks Farms has been in business, it is impossible to number the amount of calves and cows that have inhumanely died at the hands of this company'

Rachel Taylor, a spokeswoman for ARM, said: 'Due to the many years Fair Oaks Farms has been in business, it is impossible to number the amount of calves and cows that have inhumanely died at the hands of this company'

Fair Oaks Farms founder Mike McCloskey (pictured) said in a statement that four employees seen in the video have been fired and actions have been taken to prevent further abuse

Fair Oaks Farms founder Mike McCloskey (pictured) said in a statement that four employees seen in the video have been fired and actions have been taken to prevent further abuse

'As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply,' McCloskey said of Fair Oaks Farms, which Food & Wine magazine has called the 'Disneyland of agricultural tourism'

'As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply,' McCloskey said of Fair Oaks Farms, which Food & Wine magazine has called the 'Disneyland of agricultural tourism'

After the video went viral, the Newton County Sheriff's Office announced that it has launched an investigation into Fair Oaks Farms (pictured)

After the video went viral, the Newton County Sheriff's Office announced that it has launched an investigation into Fair Oaks Farms (pictured)

A portion of the video also showed what appeared to be an employee using cocaine in a work vehicle on site, while other footage showed what appeared to be marijuana plants being grown on the property.

Founder McCloskey described the plants in his statement as an invasive perennial species.

According to ARM investigators, the cows were subjected to extreme temperatures, provided with improper nutrition, and denied medical attention.

'This resulted in extreme pain and suffering by the calves, and in some cases permanent injury and even death,' ARM said in the caption of their video.

After the video went viral, the Newton County Sheriff's Office announced that it has launched an investigation into Fair Oaks Farms, which Food & Wine magazine has called the 'Disneyland of agricultural tourism'.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKEcn6YbWlqZ36Wuqa%2FjKucpZ2RqLKleZJmmqGZopyypXnAp6CmmZxisLPBxKWrsmWUlrazxY2hq6ak