Farm Sanctuary Responds to Clearing of Ohio Dairy Farm Owner of Criminal Charges
Simulposted with Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary President and Co-founder Gene Baur: “It is nothing short of a dereliction of duty for a professional trained to provide medical care to animals to support practices such as kicking them and to say that it is to the benefit of the animals.”
On Monday, an Ohio grand jury decided to clear Gary Conklin, owner of Conklin Dairy Cattle Sales LLC, of criminal charges in connection with the abuse of cows on his farm. In a disturbing video distributed worldwide in May, Mr. Conklin is shown kicking a “downed” cow too weak to stand by herself. According to a statement given to the media by the prosecutor in the case, four large animal veterinarians told law enforcement officials that “delivering a sharp blow” to a sick or weak animal is necessary in order to avoid risk of “injury and death” and is standard practice in the dairy industry as an “entirely appropriate” means to get non-ambulatory animals to move.
Today, Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, issued the following statement in response to the clearing of Gary Conklin of criminal charges:
“The involvement of experts in excusing cruelty to animals on the grounds that it is ‘standard practice’ in the industry is unconscionable. With the eyes of the world watching, this case represented an important opportunity to send a strong message of compassion. It is unfortunate that the four veterinarians called to testify in the Conklin Dairy case sided with commercial interests, instead of denouncing a clear example of abuse. The sordid notion of ‘standard practice’ is commonly used to justify cruelty in an industry where bad has become normal.
“There are humane ways to address this issue, but when animals are viewed as unfeeling commodities, the time and effort required to handle a downed cow in an appropriate manner is often set aside in favor of expediency at the expense of the animal’s welfare.
“I’m reminded of a quote by Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines: ‘If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to a lot of animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is defended. And once large sums of money are involved it will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people.’
Farm Sanctuary Offered to Accept Victims of Conklin Dairy
Soon after the video came to light, Farm Sanctuary reached out to the Union County Humane Society, one of the agencies handling the investigation, with an offer to accept and provide shelter for any animals confiscated during the investigation. Unfortunately, the investigation did not result in the seizure of any animals. Baur added, “It is heartbreaking that to date not a single mistreated cow has been given a second chance at a life free from fear and pain.”
Our Compass 
BULLSHIT!!! I Do Not Care What Anyone Says…
IT IS NEVER OK TO KICK ANY ANIMAL FOR ANY REASON, EVER!!!
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four large animal veterinarians told law enforcement officials that “delivering a sharp blow” to a sick or weak animal is necessary in order to avoid risk of “injury and death” and is standard practice in the dairy industry as an “entirely appropriate” means to get non-ambulatory animals to move. THE HYPOCRISY OF THIS STATEMENT WILL BE MISSED BY THOSE EXPLOITING OR BENEFITTING (CONSUMERS) FROM ANIMAL OPPRESSION
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COME ON…Wake up…..yeah..but if its sick OR weak in the animal industry..it is slaughtered..no time for meds…the kick or sharp blows are the beginning of the animals demise.
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Give these cows a chance to be happy !! Farm Sanctuary is a great idea ! Please make this happen!
Prison for the abusers, make it a Felony!
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Follow the Golden rule for the Conklins demise of his cattle…drag’em out back and let them float around in the pond til they are good dead..and swollen…then bury them when he gets a slap on the hand cause he has to bury them! This man is sick sick sick..he loves the almighty dollar sign tooo much to give up that easy..YOU can Bet on that one….and so do all the others he’s paid off..Ol’Billy Jo was a great scape goat for him…This Time!! Maybe if all works out..His Next ‘trip’ will not be to his liking!! And as for the cow he was kicking..if she just had a calf..where was it….that cow hadn’t had her calf yet..look at her..and if she had..they would have beat it before it even fell to the ground like the other ones…This man is a perfect example of a narcistic physcopath. …or Elvis wannabe. And you can take it to the bank! Wake Up World!
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HOW CAN FARMERS CALL THEMSELVES ANIMALS FRIENDS WHEN YOU READ THINGS LIKE THIS ABUSE TO THESE POOR DEFENSELESS ANIMALS THAT BASICALLY JUST WANT LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING AND SO TRUSTING
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como comerse a los animales, cuando ellos son tan hermosos, todos tenemos derecho a vivir, no destruyamos al medio ambiente, a la fauna, la flora, todos podemos convivir juntos.
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I’d like to see those animal-abusing pschopaths rot in hell. And, I don’t have a veterinary degree, but an abundance of empathy, and commonsense.
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You are kidding right. They beat on calves, they bragged about beating and dragging a cow and making ones head swell from beating. They were filmed poking them with pitch forks and it is considered industry standard? Bullshit it is!!!!! This farm should be shut down and the parties involved prosecuted. I am so sick of hearing animals feel no pain, that is a load of hog wash and until people like the ones in this video get their head out of their ass and are educated this is going to continue.
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I wonder if Gene knows about all the dead cows laying around the place that Conklin WAS CITED FOR? Someone mentioned it in the comments section. Maybe this is something he should be made aware of. Just a thought.
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Gary Conklin is a moral and spiritual failure, a pathetic coward and a depraved, perverse sadist, who probably dreamed of becoming a hero when a young boy. He may tell himself that because the law in OH gave him a free pass to continue to abuse and mutilate baby calves and cows in his own private Auschwitz for bovines, he is not a bad man. He doubtless left the Court in a suit and tie, smiling and waving to reporters, feeling confident. However, in the middle of the night, when Gary Conklin is all alone and cannot sleep, the shame washes over him. Everyone knows who he is and what he did. He knows the truth.
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So it was ok for the undercover videographer to participate in the abuse, let it continue for weeks & not be charged ? He should be sharing a cell with BJG. Sorry but abuse is abuse no matter the excuse. If Conklin deserves to be charged so does the MFA filmer. If MFA believed Conklin was an abuser why didn’t the tape get taken straight to law enforcement instead of showing him 1st ? Seems to me you speak out of both sides of your mouth. I would love the opportunity to view the unspliced/unedited tape. That’s what the final judgement was made from & that’s the way it should be.
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Interesting tactic, it’s called deflection; if you cared for the animals versus the abuser, your concern would be for them versus an attempt at exonerating what is clearly brutal behaviour. If you are, indeed, concerned with the action of MFA, your criticism would be directed towards them, but you instead visit here in some misplaced loyalty to an abuser in a passive attempt to legitimatize your actions. Yes, it’s a very transparent and desperate tactic to deflect attention from the VICTIM to the VICTIMIZER in order to justify YOUR contribution to such especially since, by your own admission, it was inhumane. You drink milk, don’t you?
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This is one of the saddest moments in human evolution. We just took tens of steps back…tears are rolling.
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The news that Mr. Conklin was cleared of animal abuses charges is disheartening and incredibly ignorant of the evidence that has been seen worldwide on Youtube. More consumers should avoid buying dairy products including cheese, beef and meats of all kinds unless the food comes from local free range farms or friends with hobby farms.
Ever since watching the disturbing videos of the outrageous treatment of the helpless animals, I am praying for change. I now eat broccoli for calcium, goat milk or soy milk, beans and rice for protein and eggs from my friends’ farm. I hesitate to eat steak or bbq foods because I do not want to spend a penny that supports the industry that has no heart.
These people need to feel the hit in their pocketbook and be put out of business. It would be nice to see more people writing letters of protest to Mr. Conklin as I did last week to let him know that my pain was real and I don’t appreciate whatever their lame excuses were for abusing the cows.
Aren’t cows considered sacred in the Hindu religion? I can’t wait to see God wipe away the wicked!
Sincerely,
Zena
P.S.: Conklin Dairy Farms, c/o: Gary Conklin
12939 US Hwy 42 N
Plain City, OH
43064 USA
email: dairyfarm@aol.com
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