It's a major reason why Coca-Cola acquired the remainder of Fairlife. "Weve always known that the better you treat an animal, the happier and more productive she is," Fair Oaks Farms founder and owner Mike McCloskey said in a 2015 article. Fairlife Dairy still under fire over alleged animal abuse after new Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Sour Milk | Successful Farming The parties, which include Select Milk Producers, Fair Oaks Farms and Mike and Sue McCloskey (the owners of Fair Oaks and founders of Fairlife), also agreed to take additional steps to implement animal welfare oversight, according to the filing. Animal Welfare Experts | Video Update | Fair Oaks Farms FAIR OAKS An audit of the operations of Fair Oaks Farms should likely be completed early next week. Yet many farmers argue that it's in their best interest to treat their animals humanely. A Crown Point, Indiana, woman filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Fair Oaks Farms, saying the company misled consumers who bought its milk at prices higher than . Does Fairlife Still Abuse Cows? Cruel Treatment Is Unavoidable in Dairy Please subscribe to keep reading. Employees were observed slapping, kicking, punching, pushing, throwing and slamming calves, ARM said in a statement at the time, as per TODAY. After a graphic video filmed at Indiana's Fair Oaks Farms one of the country's largest dairy operations was released earlier this month, more consumers are calling for retailers to cut ties with brands that have histories of documented animal abuse. Cut ties with the supplier? 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. For further information on the progress of our commitments, visit http://fairoaksfarmsprogress.com.". Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son. tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to the animal agriculture industry, standard practice across the dairy industry. The suit alleges that this led many consumers to believe they were were paying a premium for that standard of care. Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh, DVM, has directed BOAH staff to collaborate with local law enforcement regarding any appropriate next steps they may take.. "The response is similar to when we first published the footage on a smaller scale, with the outrage in general. The video was brought to the attention of The Indiana State Board of Animal Health on Tuesday through social media, news stories and concerned citizens, according to Denise Derrer, the board's public information director. Here's a look at the top 5 trending stories on nwi.com yesterday. Footage shows Fair Oaks Farms workers dragging calves by their ears, throwing them into small plastic enclosures and hitting them with milk bottles. HAMMOND Fair Oaks Farms is facing new demands it pay damages over animal abuse at the agritourism destination. The Coca-Cola Company and Fair Oaks owners Mike and Sue McCloskey are named as co-defendants in the suits, which were being consolidated into a single fraud case. With that said, I am disappointed to learn of potential drug use on our properties. Fair Oaks Farms is the flagship farm for Fairlife, a national brand of higher protein, higher calcium and lower fat milk that's produced at a network of dairy farms and distributed by Coca-Cola. McCloskey, a retired veterinarian, and his wife Sue often used the word symbiotic to describe their relationship to their cows (which they referred to as their girls). That manager notified local law enforcement about the drug use and, accordingly, a police report is on file. Calves were stabbed and beaten with steel rebars, hit in the mouth and face with hard plastic milking bottles, kneed in the spine, burned in the face with hot branding irons, subjected to extreme temperatures, provided with improper nutrition, and denied medical attention.". Fairlife, which is owned by Coca-Cola, quickly cut ties with the dairy farm after the video first went viral. Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions. three times as many greenhouse gas emissions. Was able to make it through 15 seconds of that fairlife video I will never understand how anyone could hurt an animal. The result is a milk with more protein and calcium, and less fat and sugar, than conventional milk. The settlement received preliminary approval by an Illinois federal judge on April 27. The brand said it has "significantly strengthened our animal care programs and processes since 2019"through camera monitoring, a third-party animal welfare advisory board and increasing the number of unannounced audits at supplying farms. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Fairlife does not provide any evidence that its cows are no longer being abused in fact, industrial animal farms are protected from being photographed or filmed by a set of laws called ag-gag laws. ", "Defendants preyed on consumer desire for dairy products sourced from farms that ensure high levels of animal welfare by making animal welfare claims a central tenet of their labeling campaign," one of the lawsuits alleges. 2-year-old animal abuse video goes viral again, renewing calls to However, this footage was a wake-up call to dairy consumers everywhere. | 2 p.m. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). The product delivery arm of Fair Oaks Farms, Fresh Delivery, is suspending service for a week "to stand with the farm and for the safety of th, FAIR OAKS The Newton County Sheriff's Office has identified three of the men accused of abusing young calves at Fair Oaks Farms, according t, Police are looking for a suspicious man who reportedly approached children at Griffith's Central Park Monday, calling one to come to him and a, FAIR OAKS One of the men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms was arrested Wednesday, while the other two are still being sought by. In the new statement issued Wednesday on the Fair Oaks Farms Facebook feed, the company acknowledged the brutal nature of some of the video captured on its property. NEWTON COUNTY One of the three men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms is in federal immigration custody, according to police. ET, Webinar All Rights Reserved. Fair Oaks Farms is a museum, restaurant, gift shop and hotel built around a working dairy farm. NEWTON COUNTY One of the three men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms is in federal immigration custody, according to police. I also take full responsibility to correct and ensure that every employee understands, embraces and practices the core values on which our organization stands. At Target, a 52-ounce bottle of Fairlife milk sells for $3.39. Fairlife has invested more than $8 million over the past two years into animal welfare programs and oversight at its supplying farms, Lecas said. Driver in ditch nearly 5 times the legal limit, Porter County police say. FAIR OAKS The Newton County prosecutor says a witness has corroborated allegations from a suspect that an animal welfare investigator encour, Ford is expanding its workforce again at the Chicago Assembly Plant on the banks of the Calumet River, just across the state line in Hegewisch. Fairlife has admitted that the calves seen in the undercover footage taken at Fair Oaks Farms were mistreated. But that doesn't mean that all farming operations are large-scale operations like Fair Oaks Farms, which has 37,000 cows and is the largest dairy farm in the state of Indiana. On Monday, the Newton County Sheriff's Office announced that three people have been charged with animal cruelty. Approximately 98% of the country's milk supply is represented through the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM), a program that sets animal care standards for participating farms. Fair Oaks Dairy Farm animal abuse allegations, video prompt Jewel Osco But this behavior was all observed nearly three years ago so is it still happening? It's located in Fair Oaks, Ind., just off I-65, about 109 miles north of Indianapolis and. "Animal abuse in any form is not tolerated on US dairy farms," said Bjerga. Cathy Siegner No court records were available on the remaining defendants. We immediately stopped accepting milk from them after learning about the incident and dont accept milk from them today.. Animal Recovery Mission also alleges supervisors and owners at the farm were aware of the conditions and took part in the abuse. And while it sounds good that Fairlife is conducting third-party audits of its farms, Fairlife does not state what happens if its auditors observe abuse at a farm. "Isolated incidents such as this are not indicative of how our countrys dairy farm families operate.". Derrer told TODAY that prior to the first video's release, her office had never received a complaint about Fair Oaks Farms. ", Anna Ortiz is the breaking news/crime reporter for The Times, covering crime, politics, courts and investigative news. Fairlifes website states that after ARM exposed Fairlifes cruelty, the dairy company stopped buying milk from Fair Oaks, and established a robust welfare program with their other farms, which Fairlife has put over $8 million into. FAIR OAKS, Ind. While Fairlifes investigation went far more viral than any other undercover footage from a dairy farm has, there have been many other videos and documentaries revealing animal cruelty across the dairy industry and animal agriculture industry as a whole. "I guarantee you that this will never happen again at Fair Oaks Farms.". Five workers in the video were identified as participating in the alleged abuse. Fair Oaks Farms was a popular place Since opening as a tourist attraction in 2004, Fair Oaks Farms has been considered the "Disneyland" of dairy farms. We have been flooded with emails to ask if we are still undercover with the dairy industry and asking about Fair Oaks Farms. There is also footage of calves left in. Cuoto said, "The answer is no for me. Yesterdays protest outside of @CocaCola headquarters in #Atlanta urging them to drop @Fairlife milk products following @ARMInvestigatios undercover expos of horrific #calf abuse. "None of them have ever seen anything close to what was depicted on the video, even when performing their duties in the calf areas.". The undercover video shows various forms of abuse against the calves. One of those men has since been apprehended and arrested. Keep reading for a refresher on what went down, everything we know about Fairlifes treatment of the cows, and for our guidance on easy ways to protest companies that treat animals unfairly. When it entered the national market in 2014, Fairlife quickly garnered a lot of attention for producing a milk with "superior nutrition." Fortunately, there are endless options when it comes to non-dairy milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, protein shakes, and more. Four employees were fired and a truck driver who worked for a third-party vendor was banned from the farm. May 28, 2021 at 9:40 am A 2-year-old video of alleged animal abuse at a northwest Indiana dairy farm has gone viral again, generating a new wave of social media outrage and renewed calls to. Parth Raval, the division's chief growth officer, said the CPG giant is exploring different ingredients, packaging formats and flavor offerings to strengthen its dominant presence in the category. The Animal Recovery Mission claimed Fair Oaks . -- Police are investigating allegations of animal abuse at an Indiana dairy farm, the Newton County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. The abuse extends to kicking and beating calves, as well as force-feeding them until they can't breath. Coworkers caught three of the four employees abusing animals, reported them to management and they were fired before the Animal Recovery Mission video was even released. On June 4, 2019, ARM released disturbing footage of one of its most grueling factory farm investigations. FAIR OAKS Fair Oaks Farms founder Mike McCloskey says he was unaware calves were being sold to the veal industry, citing a lack of communica. The abuse in the dairy industry is systematic., Chicago-area grocers pulled Fairlife from their shelves, A defensive stalwart, Oswego Easts Tyler Jasek surprises Joliet West. The video was filmed by a member of Animal Recovery Mission, who got a job at Fair Oaks Farms and went undercover as an employee from August to November of last year, CBS Chicago reports. On Wednesday, the company issued a new statement on its Facebook page taking "full responsibility" for the matter. FAIR OAKS Mike McCloskey said he wished an animal activist organization that spent nearly six months clandestinely filming the operations of, FAIR OAKS | Fortune 60 company Coca-Cola is partnering with a Northwest Indiana farm, hoping that a reinvented, more nutrient-rich milk can do. Below is McCloskey's full statement for Fair Oaks Farms: This morning I was made aware of an animal abuse video that the group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) produced and has released to the public and the press. For female cows to produce milk for farmers to take, farmers must first artificially inseminate the cows; once a baby is born, farmers must separate mother and calf, otherwise the calf would nurse from his or her mother. In addition, Fairlife said they are immediately suspending milk deliveries from the dairy identified in the video. The minimizing of the graphic animal cruelty offers little assurance of change in a culture that is likely in need of fundamental retooling.". ARMs Fairlife investigation proved that there is no way to truly know what is happening behind a farm's closed doors. Watch new video documenting more animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms A dozen Chicago-area grocers pulled Fairlife from their shelves amid widespread backlash. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. Conventionally raised cows may spend the majority of their lives in pens or inside barns in cramped quarters. Miami-based animal welfare group Animal Recovery Mission released another video documenting animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms. Fairlife's website states that after ARM exposed Fairlife's cruelty, the dairy company stopped buying milk from Fair Oaks, and established "a robust welfare program" with their other farms, which Fairlife has put over $8 million into. You can read more about the audits that Fairlife pledged to take on the brands website; however, the brand did claim to already have governance measures in place before the investigation, so many customers may find it difficult to trust these new procedures. In June 2019, ARM published a video (warning it's brutal) of the investigators most shocking footage, which quickly went viral. I am committed to never again have to watch a video of our animals suffering the way that they suffered," McCloskey said June 6, 2019, in a video posted to Fair Oaks Farms' Facebook page. Of the four who were our employees, three had already been terminated prior to us being made aware months ago of the undercover ARM operation, as they were identified by their co-workers as being abusive of our animals and reported to management. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. On June 4, 2019, videos depicting employees abusing calves were released by ARM following an undercover investigation by the animal rights group. UPDATE: Search for Suspects in Fair Oaks Farm Investigation "Since then, we have taken vigilant, unwavering steps to actively monitor all human-animal interaction 24 hours a day by installing cameras throughout our farms, and bolstered these efforts with hiring an on-site animal welfare expert and conducting regular third-party audits to confirm our monitoring practices, to ensure we havent overlooked anything," the company said. "At Jewel-Osco we strive to maintain high animal welfare standards across all areas of business, and work in partnership with our vendors to ensure those standards are upheld," the company stated in a news release Wednesday. Coutos organization has investigated alleged abuse at 25 dairy farms in the U.S., including a 2017 investigation at a Florida dairy farm associated with Dean Foods, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019. It has since received millions of views on a variety of social media platforms. Others boycotted dairy entirely, and switched to non-dairy milk, cheese, and ice cream. 219-933-4194, anna.ortiz@nwi.com. After all, it's their product and their livelihood at risk since most calves sell for between $500 - $1,000. While we were made aware a couple months ago of the fact that ARM had gone undercover at Fair Oaks Farms, and had proactively made a statement, we had no idea what kind of footage had been captured or what if any abuse had occurred. Does Fairlife publicize the audit? They are distributed by the Coca-Cola Company in the U.S. graphic video filmed at Indiana's Fair Oaks Farms, new footage was released by Animal Recovery Mission, thousands of smaller dairy farms closing for business, National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM), Grocery stores pull popular milk brand from shelves after disturbing video surfaces, the Chicago-based company is being sued for fraud, which still has a 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor, retailers including Jewel-Osco, Tonys Fresh Market, Casey's and Family Express have stopped selling Fairlife products, The new laws will go into effect on July 1. People all over the world were horrified to see evidence of such unnecessary abuse at the farm. However, as I have stated before, the fact that ARM takes months before notifying owners or authorities regarding on-going animal abuse is concerning. Animal Welfare Experts | Video Update | Fair Oaks Farms Animal Welfare Animal Welfare Experts Video Update Share Both of our Animal Welfare Experts continue to evaluate our existing training programs, our on-boarding process for hiring new employees and the continuous education of employees. Fairlife is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, and the corporation responded to the undercover footage by stating that Fairlife immediately stopped sourcing milk from Fair Oaks Farms after the footage was released, and that Fairlife planned to launch an animal welfare advisory council of experts. Fair Oaks Farms said that people were harassing the business and its staff via phone calls, messages, social media and in person during deliveries. In the initial statement issued Tuesday on social media, Fair Oaks founder Mike McCloskey said four of the people shown committing alleged abuses were Fair Oaks Farms employees and each had been or were being fired. Months ago, when I first learned of the undercover activity, I requested a 3rd party review and we went through a re-training process throughout the dairies. A full investigation of all aspects of the video is underway, during and after which disciplinary action will be taken, including termination and criminal prosecution, of any and all employees and managers who have violated either our animal care practices or the law or both. June 12, 2019: 7 things to know about alleged animal abuse at Fair Oaks @CocaCola needs to end this partnership & @fairlife needs to take action on there workers and this situation. #boycottfairlife. As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply. "I am disgusted by and take full responsibility for the actions seen in the footage, as it goes against everything that we stand for in regards to responsible cow care and comfort," McCloskey said in a written statement on the company's website. Those poor calves #boycottfairlife. The Coca-Cola Company and Fair Oaks owners Mike and Sue McCloskey are named as co-defendants in the suits, which are being consolidated into a. You have permission to edit this article. The videos showed calves being kicked in the head and being struck with branding irons and iron rods, and dead calves were shown piled in the dirt. The farm, which still has a 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor, welcomes about 500,000 visitors annually. In response, multiple stores stopped carrying Fairlife products, and numerous consumers boycotted the brand. In November 2019, The Times reported that at least eight federal lawsuits had been filed against Fairlifefrom across the country, including California, Florida and Indiana. Green Matters is a registered trademark. However, the spokesperson said the USDA is aware of the video and allegations of animal cruelty must be taken seriously. Fair Oaks Farms said the company's progress has been regularly documented on their website fofarms.com/progress where they write about efforts concerning video surveillance, mentorship, employee care, training, monitoring of facilities and staff, audits and animal welfare experts.