By Alicia Graef From Care2

Many dairy products sit so innocuously on store shelves across the country, but behind them is an industry filled with cruelty and suffering, and dairy cows who continue to pay the ultimate price for them.

While the industry itself is no stranger to undercoverinvestigations exposing cruelty, yet another just released by Compassion Over Killing (COK) conducted at Martin Farms, a dairy farm in Pennsylvania that supplies Nestlé, has brought to light not only unacceptable mistreatment of cows and calves, but also standard industry practices that cause immense suffering.

The footage obtained shows incredibly sadistic abuse of cows, in what COK is calling some of the “worst abuse it’s ever documented,” in addition to highlighting the cruel practice of dehorning, or disbudding, calves, where their horns are permanently destroyed with a hot iron that’s burned into their skulls without any pain relief.

The investigator described everyday life there as a “living nightmare.”

“Behind every sip of milk or scoop of ice cream that comes from a cow, there is unacceptable abuse and exploitation,” said Cheryl Leahy, General Counsel, Compassion Over Killing. ”We’re calling for criminal prosecution for the most egregious cruelty in this case, but this investigation also shows practices that are commonplace throughout the dairy industry yet so severely abusive that they’d result in criminal cruelty charges if inflicted on the dogs and cats in our homes.”

Nestlé responded by cutting ties with the Martin Farms, and the farm itself responded by issuing a statement that it doesn’t tolerate abuse and has terminated the employees seen mistreating cows, but as COK notes, neither of these responses really address the widespread problems and systemic abuse found in the dairy industry.

Whether dairy cows are factory farmed or raised out on open pastures, one thing is consistent around the world: they all need to continuously produce babies so we can have their milk.

Sadly for these mothers, their calves who they want to nurture and protect are torn from them shortly after birth just so we can take their milk …and the cycle is repeated over and over again until their bodies are spent at a fraction of their normal lifespan and they’re sold for slaughter.

The females born into this industry will typically replace their mothers as milk producers, while the males will be confined to crates before soon being killed for veal.

COK has turned over its findings to law enforcement, and while it’s calling on Nestlé to end dehorning, it’s also far more importantly calling on the company to invest in plant-based foods. Hopefully this latest investigation will help raise more awareness about the cruelty inherent in dairy products, and encourage more people to consider trying a growing array of alternatives that are now widely available.

Photo credit: Getty Images

For more on this story and video go to: https://www.care2.com/causes/investigation-exposes-heartbreaking-abuse-on-dairy-farm-supplying-nestle.html