Northbrook-based maker of frozen pizzas cuts ties to Wisconsin farm
Warning contains Blood and violent animal abuse!
Mercy For Animals
Mercy For Animals general counsel Vandhana Bala releases a hidden-camera video during a press conference at the Sofitel Water Tower Hotel, 20 E. Chestnut St., on Tuesday showing animal abuse at Wiese Brothers Farms in Greenleaf, Wisc., a dairy that supplies cheese to Nestle. ((Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune) / December 10, 2013) By Ellen Jean Hirst, Chicago Tribune reporter
December 11, 2013
Nestle's Northbrook-based pizza division, which makes DiGiorno and Jack's frozen pies, has cut ties with a Wisconsin farm after an animal rights group released a video of dairy cow abuse.
Mercy for Animals revealed Tuesday an undercover investigation that showed video of cows being beaten, stabbed, dragged by a tractor and dangling in the air after being hoisted up.
Wiese Brothers' Farm in Greenleaf, Wis., where the abuse was recorded, supplies milk to Wisconsin's Foremost Farms, which in turn makes cheese for Nestle pizzas.
Nestle spokeswoman Deborah Cross said the company is "outraged and deeply saddened by the mistreatment of animals shown in this video."
Cross said Nestle is committed to humane animal handling, and she pointed to the company's Responsible Sourcing Guidelines that require its suppliers to treat animals well. She said Nestle is no longer accepting cheese made with milk from the Wiese farm.
Foremost Farms spokeswoman Joan Behr said that as of Monday her company is no longer receiving milk from the Wiese farm "to protect consumer trust and confidence." Behr said the amount of milk Foremost Farms received from the farm is proprietary information, but she also said that the Wiese farm was one of 1,800 farmers who belonged to the Foremost Farms dairy cooperative. Wiese Brothers is no longer part of that cooperative.
"Foremost Farms is extremely disappointed by the animal treatment depicted in the video," Behr said. "We have never condoned this behavior."
Wiese Brothers Farm said in a statement that it became aware of the video two weeks ago and was "shocked and saddened to see a few of our employees not following our farm's policies for proper animal care. We have zero tolerance for animal abuse. We are committed to providing optimal care and ask all our employees to demonstrate ongoing respect for every animal at all times."
At a press conference Tuesday, Mercy for Animals' general counsel Vandhana Bala outlined the extent of the abuse, which included farmhands taking calves away from their mothers right after birth and cows being left with open wounds after being beaten and then dragged with a tractor if they could not walk.
The farm said it has fired two employees involved in the abuse and identified three people who will work as "specialists" to supervise the care of cows unable to get up without assistance.
The employee who secretly took the video on behalf of Mercy for Animals worked at the Wisconsin farm from Oct. 4 to Nov. 15. Wisconsin law doesn't require two-party consent when recording — so it's legal to record someone in many instances without their knowledge.
Mercy for Animals has been conducting similar investigations for eight years, Bala said, including six into other dairy farms that showed similar abuse. Wiese, which has 4,500 cows that produce about 350,000 pounds of milk daily, was chosen at random to investigate, Bala said.
"This leads us to believe that violence and cruelty run rampant in the dairy industry," Bala said.
In late 2011, Oak Brook-based McDonald's cut ties with one of its egg suppliers after a similar Mercy for Animals undercover video showed hens and chicks being mistreated and tortured by workers at Litchfield, Minn.-based Sparboe Farms.
Mercy for Animals told the Brown County Sheriff's Department about the cruelty at the Wiese farm on Nov. 15 and the department said its investigation continues.
"We have every reason to believe they're taking this issue very seriously," Bala said.
Because of the disturbing nature of the Mercy For Animals video, the Tribune did not post it on its website. It can be viewed at sliceofcruelty.com.
Sounds like it isn't the only thing illegal at that place This happens all over the country and there is tons of videos out there showing even worse abuse then this, then you have the idiots who call hunting inhumane but maybe they should know where their meat comes from.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
Sounds like it isn't the only thing illegal at that place This happens all over the country and there is tons of videos out there showing even worse abuse then this, then you have the idiots who call hunting inhumane but maybe they should know where their meat comes from.
TRUTH!!!
it's called environmental conservation for control it's called jack up the food supply with growth hormones/antibiotics etc to feed the masses who then get sick and have to be cared for in a system they are forced to pay for either with subsidies to farmers/ranchers or subsidies for healthcare costs...
is this what everyone went to war for?????
show me the $$ trail with the honor
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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This happens all over the country and there is tons of videos out there showing even worse abuse then this, then you have the idiots who call hunting inhumane but maybe they should know where their meat comes from.
