Another horrible animal abuse video

[juliepoudrier]

Abuse is illegal already- there is nothing more to prove by releasing that tape-------- unless you have an agenda that goes futher than that.

It seems to me that the burden of proof falls to the prosecution and if I were a witness and claimed that abuse was going on at a particular facility, it would be labeled hearsay and probably not be admissable. A tape is pretty much irrefutable evidence. I don't know how else you'd expect someone to come up with such evidence. I don't think the average person thinks that what was shown on the tape is the norm--quite the contrary, actually, from the comments I've read on a couple of blogs. The owner of the place was quoted in the news as saying he was unaware of the abuses--who would/could have called him on that big, fat lie if it weren't for the fact that he's shown on the videotape kicking a cow in the head? The fact that he was aware of the abuses, participated in them, and lied about it is the more that could be proved by releasing the tape.

 

I suspect, though, that we'll have to agree to disagree on this, but please note that nowhere have I supported the *cause* of the people who made the video, nor have I painted all dairy farmers as abusers because this one farm allowed abuse (nor has anyone else done this). I do support finding and exposing abuse and prosecuting the abusers, and for that purpose I don't particularly care if the group doing the exposing is someone I don't agree with. I won't stop consuming dairy products, but I will be more careful about their source. Then again, I already try to buy locally and to know how the animals I eat are raised/cared for. Again, I don't think most of the people responding to the release of this video are going to stop consuming dairy products altogether, so even though that's the purported agenda of the folks who filmed the abuse, it isn't likely to have that overall effect, IMO.

 

J.

[geonni banner]

 

"I'm not sure some of these zealots even care about the animals. I think they are just as power hungry as abusers are, they just go about it a different way. "

 

I think most people who espouse the cause of ending animal abuse do care about animals. They may not have their facts straight, they may be irrational at times, and I certainly don’t fall in line with much of their agenda, but I rather doubt that the hunger for power comes into it much.

 

"If they just care about the animals why tape for so long, why egg the abuser on and why release it publicly before giving the authorities a chance to deal with it without all the fanfare?"

 

Many cases of real, terrible animal abuse have been thrown out of court for “lack of evidence” when the prosecutors presented much more video footage, photographic evidence and sound recordings than were collected by this group for this case. There are very specific criteria that must be met for evidence to be considered sufficiently damning.

 

Not to mention that in the case of large, corporately owned factory farm operations, the legal teams and money that they are willing to bring to bear on these kinds of court battles are very formidable indeed. This is a case of, “money doesn’t talk, it screams.” The opposition must be prepared to face not only this, but the public’s completely understandable reluctance to face the fact that there is sometimes really ugly abuse of the animals whose bodies and other products they consume.

 

I think people need to have the facts put before them so that they can become more responsible consumers, and so demand accountability of those who produce the meat, milk, eggs and other animal products that they sell. If people eat meat, eggs and milk products, I believe they should be aware of what goes into the management of the animals they eat. Animals can and are raised humanely all over the country – it is up to us as consumers to see that we only support the livestock producers who do this, and that we do not tolerate practices like those that occurred at the Conklin Dairy in Ohio.

 

I did not see or hear anything on the video that seemed like egging the abusers on. Unless you consider his mere presence to be egging them on - but he could hardly make the tape at all without being there.

 

"Bad people do bad things inside and outside of agriculture- their goal is to tarnish animal production, not promote good husbandry.

Abuse is illegal already- there is nothing more to prove by releasing that tape-------- unless you have an agenda that goes further than that. I don’t trust zealots that go after publicity- and we shouldn’t be encouraging them."

 

The first part of this statement is certainly true, (although irrelevant to this topic) and the second part is also true, but though I am no supporter of PETA, or HSUS, and I never even heard of Mercy For Animals before this tape link was posted – I am very grateful that the people who did the abuse may now be brought to justice for the unbelievable acts of cruelty they have done upon these animals.

 

I am already mostly vegetarian – I eat eggs and dairy. Mercy For Animals is not responsible for that, nor do I intend to stop eating eggs or consuming milk products because of this video or the case of the Conklin Dairy Farm. While it is true that most of these animal rights groups would like to see the consumption of animal products halted – and even the very existence of domestic animals ended, this is unlikely to happen.

As far as the people on these boards are concerned, many of them get their living, or part of it, from raising livestock or dogs that work the livestock. They may well be horrified at the acts portrayed by this video, but I doubt that any will hang up their stock-sticks and turn to data-entry as a livelihood, nor should they. I have heard many expressions of concern from them for the welfare of the animals in their charge. And were I still of a carnivorous bent I would happily and confidently buy meat or cheese from any of them!

[njnovice]

Karen,

This very topic (filming abuse) was just before the Supreme Court, and it was said that one of the reasons they didn't want to make such abuse films illegal (excuse my wording; I'm no lawyer and so may not get it exactly right) was because then these types of movies couldn't be made to expose abuses. It's a difficult line to walk if you're trying to document something so that legal action can be taken, but I think it must be necessary to detach oneself from the actual activities being filmed or you'd never get the proof that was needed for prosecution. I couldn't bring myself to watch the video, so I sure don't think I could have recorded it, but I'm glad someone was able to do that and so bring to light what was going on at that particular farm. I don't think the people doing the abusing need a defense of "well the videographer did nothing to stop it, so he's guilty too."

 

J.

 

Yep, I read a big long article recently about a couple of undercover cops who took down a dogfighting ring in TX. They had to go in there and match dogs and everything. I couldn't bear to do it. The sad thing was, at the end, after everyone was arrested, the dogs they were given to fight, had to be put down too, since they were fighting dogs. In the meantime, the cops had totally befriended those dogs. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that burden.

[njnovice]

I have to agree with this. I can't imagine how hard it must be to have to watch this sort of thing - the very thing that your efforts go to eradicate. It would take more nerve than I have. But if someone doesn't do this work and do it convincingly, these sorts of abuse never come to light. This means acting a part to infiltrate the scene. It seems like a sort of "Schindler's List" scenario. The dilemma of the filmmaker dealing with the stress of witnessing these acts is addressed in the documentary "Dealing Dogs." (Available on Netflix)

 

This is the sort of thing that gets places like S-------'s puppy mills shut down - documentation of abuse. It takes courage and nerves of steel to pull off. I destroyed the chance for an animal abuser to be prosecuted once by removing a puppy with a leg broken in three places, two cracked ribs and multiple cigarette burns from the scene of his abuse. I was afraid. Afraid of the screaming man who had inflicted this abuse - he lived two doors down from my house - and afraid that the puppy would die. It was hard enough to walk up, pick up the pup and run. What these filmmakers do is infinitely harder.

 

I have a friend in FL that basically steals fighting pit bulls and rehabs them for rescue. The photos I've seen from him coming out of those yards are horrific. There was one dog who had half her face basically ripped off, and when he found her, all she wanted to do was be loved by a person.