BIRNAMWOOD, Wis. (WSAU) -- An animal rights group says a Birnamwood area farm has been abusing its cows.
Mercy For Animals released a video on Tuesday that shows cows at the Andrus Dairy being beaten, dragged and kicked. They say they obtained the footage with a hidden camera in July and August of this year. That video was released to the Milwaukee and Cleveland media markets.
Andrus Farms owner Alan Andrus issued a statement that says this treatment isn't appropriate and that employees weren't following established practices from the farm. "We were shocked to see some of our employees not following appropriate animal handling practices on our farm. No one in our family was aware of such conduct occurring on our farm. We were equally shocked to learn that one of our former employees stood by and collected this video footage without notifying us and without interceding to protect our animals." Andrus says his employees are going through training with local vets and he's ensuring that all employees report abuse immediately.
Andrus supplies milk to Mullins Cheese in Knowlton who sends that cheese on to other businesses including Great Lakes Cheese in Ohio. Great Lakes says in a statement they wouldn't be taking any cheese made from milk at the Andrus Farm. Many dairy farms supply milk to Mullins Cheese and it's not clear if Great Lakes Cheese is not accepting any products from Mullins Cheese because Andrus Farms is one of their suppliers.
Prosecutors in Shawano County say they will not be filing charges in the case, but have put Andrus Farm on record that they will be inspecting for improvements in the future.
Los Angeles-based Mercy for Animals released a similar video last year that brought an investigation to the Wiese Brothers Farm in Greenleaf near Green Bay. The group advocates for vegan and vegetarian lifestyle choices. Critics say the company releases highly edited videos that are not representative of the dairy industry at large.