Like many people that watched the Conklin Dairy abuse video, I hardly got any sleep Tuesday night. Those 3.5 minutes of footage evoked a level of rage I’ve never experienced in my entire life.
I was so consumed by anger I couldn’t begin to quantify it with words. I had to force myself to just copy and paste the story here, if I attempted to include any commentary it would’ve been pure expletives. Having returned to a slightly more rational frame of mind, I still continue to be haunted by its horrific images.
It helped a little to watch the next day as the story got tons of coverage by the media. Better yet was hearing about the first arrest. But that only brought up new anger about the lack of legal protection afforded to farm animals. The penalty for all of that cruelty inflicted? Only a second-degree misdemeanor in Ohio— a pathetic $750 fine and up to 90 days in jail. Nothing close to justice. Even more, we’re still waiting for Gary Conklin to be arrested. Clearly shown kicking a cow in the video, he has yet to be charged with anything.
The investigation is still in its beginning stages and there is plenty to be depressed and angry about.
Now is the perfect time to remember that 20 miles away from the Conklin Dairy Farm there’s a happy ending to one cruel chapter of the dairy industry. His name is Wesley.
No use to his owner since he’s male and therefore can’t produce milk, he was chained up, starving, and almost too weak to stand when he was rescued by Mindy Mallett, founder of Sunrise Sanctuary.
If you think cows are mindless animals with no personalities, you have to meet this one. Everyone who has will agree: Wesley is a puppy trapped in a cow’s body. Given free reign to roam anywhere on the farm, he often walks onto the back deck and peers into Mindy’s window, whining to come inside. In the winter he likes to fall asleep covered up with a blanket. Oh, and I can hardly leave out this tip— Wesley loves apple juice.
Once you meet him you’ll understand what all the hype is about. Wesley is quite the charmer. A perfect reminder of how incredibly intelligent and loving these animals can be.
Sunrise Sanctuary is home to over 80 other rescued animals, including chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, llamas, cats, dogs, and more. Each have their own story, some more horrific than others, but all have the same happy and compassionate ending.
They’re having a fundraiser on Saturday, June 12th, it’s the perfect opportunity to come out and meet Wesley, along with all the other animals. If you need a break from the heart-wrenching Conklin Dairy story, a visit to Sunrise is sure to lift your spirits.
Wesley is a reminder that groups like Sunrise Sanctuary and Mercy for Animals deserve our energy, not pieces of garbage like Conklin and Gregg. If you’re angry about what happened, I strongly suggest:
- Stop consuming ALL dairy. Conklin Dairy is not an exception, they are the rule. It does nothing to boycott whatever company may happen to distribute Conklin’s milk, the dairy industry is HUGE, there are countless more operating the same way. Even “humane” dairy farming is cruel. Like humans, cows only produce milk when they’re pregnant, so the cows are kept perpetually pregnant, the resulting baby calves taken away immediately and sold to the veal industry. If you’re opposed to eating veal, you should be opposed to the dairy industry that supplies it.
- Support compassion. Whether it’s financially or as a volunteer, I highly encourage you to support Mercy for Animals and their important undercover investigations, as well as rescue organizations like Sunrise Sanctuary.
- Sign the petition for Ohioans for Humane Farms, a citizen-backed ballot initiative to prevent some of the cruelest factory farming practices in Ohio. The measure will require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt certain minimum standards that will prevent animal cruelty, improve health and food safety, support family farms and safeguard the environment throughout the state of Ohio.
Of course I’m as anxious as everyone else to see justice prevail in this story. While we wait, it helps to remember Wesley.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Gandhi
SMILE…. :) Great …it brings feelings of joy and power…great work. Thanks for creating and sharing this info, it is fuel for well being and leading to more of that what I and I guess many others like to see in life.
Rob Waterlander
Thank you so much for this great post. It not only reminds us that there are places such as Sunrise Sanctuary here and Happy Trails in Ravenna, Ohio but others nationwide too I believe. We Ohioans deserve the bad rap we have regarding how we fail to bring justice to the animals who suffer at our hands. Our Ohio legilature needs to learn compassion and hopefully the new HSUS inniative to treat our farm animals compassionately will by pass them and it will come down to a compassionate vote by Ohioans which says we don’t need to crate, cage, or confine our farm animals.
Thank you for this post. I have been vegetarian for 4 years but I am now motivated to go vegan because of this.
While I may bemoan a system of justice that will not allow for the requisite attachment of a car battery to the testes of the offender(s), I can take a little comfort in hoping that the Girls of Conklin Farms and their Babies are probably enjoying a run of peace & safety and very cautious attentions; no idiot in his right mind would behave status quo while the Farm is under the microscope.
Perhaps this peace will even extend to other dairies; with the possiblity of a hidden camera doggin’ your every move, you might just be on your best behavior.
There are plenty of dairy farmers that are good to their cows. I am a woman with a dairy farm and love, baby and spoil them. They have never been mistreated…adult cows or babies. Please don’t say that the Conklin event is “norm” for the industry. That is not true. Promoting Vegan tells me that you don’t believe that dairy cows exist on this earth…how humane is that? If we don’t consume dairy products, why would we need dairy cows? I would hate to think that dairy cattle were not wanted or needed and that I didn’t have my “babies” to care for. I LOVE my cows! It is not true that cows only produce milk when they are pregnant. They are open for few months after calving and are not milked the ENTIRE time they are pregnant. They are given a “rest period” or a dry off time of at least 2 months when they are given special feed and care to take care of them prior to them becoming Momma’s again. My calves are not taken away immediately. When the are taken away they are on the other side of the fence from the Momma’s so they can visit them when ever they want, they just can’t nurse them. The babies are bottle fed milk. Many baby bulls never go for veal and all of the heifers are raised to become cows in the herd. All animals on the farm have shelter and plenty of room to run and play. Any illness is treated with caring for the animal and not worrying about the expense. They will get whatever they need. Please don’t let Conklin’s horrific episode make you think that all dairies are this way. Many of them are not. My philosophy is that of WD Hoards…”this is the home of mothers and should be treated as such”. The abuser at the Conklin farm shoud not be allowed back into society and should pay the highest penalty for his disgusting behavior…dont’ you hate him! The owner? I can’t believe that he didn’t know something was going on! Cows will tell you when something is going on…their behavior tells you everything they can’t tell you. I have a passion for “the girls” and will continue to give my girls everything they need along with hugs and kisses as long as I am able to physically care for them. Please rethink some of you ideas about the dairy industry.
Thank you , Williams, for your informative and encouraging words. I, too, am an animal lover and it is good to hear another side of the business. There are those who know how to apppreciate the supporters of their livelihood, by that I mean you clearly love and take care of your livestock. Vegetarians and vegans who take such a militant apporoach don’t realize that it only turns people off to their cause. I don’t believe it’s right to support an industry that exploits animals inhumanely, whether it be lab work, extracting products for medicines, fur, or farming, but I’m not against enjoying the products of animals that have been raised in humane conditions. Anything I share with my friends on facebook, for example, doesn’t link up to extreme calls for meatless diets, (my friends will get turned off thinking I’m trying to convert them; that’s a personal choice), just those that help bring about awareness and widespread reaction / action against the abuse at Conklin Farms. Let’s work together to strengthen laws to protect farm animals!
Thanks you Williams. I, too, am a woman and a fourth generation dairy farmer whose family originally had dairy cows in The Netherlands. I am also a HUGE animal lover. We often educate school children about animal science and my husband, who is also a veterinarian, has volunteered at shelters and schools. I have been around dairy families my whole life. Everyone I know was outraged by this abuse. Why does the media present it as the norm? It isn’t. I was a teacher and school counselor and have encountered children who were abused and neglected and who ate their only healthy meals at school. Are all parents bad because a few are? No. Any neither are America’s dairy farmers when a sadist, who reminds me of Jeffery Dahmer, abuses innocent animals.
I totally disagree with Esther. Animals SHOULD NOT BE USED!!! Do people like being USED for slavery?! Is it ok to kill human babies? Well, got news for ya. Some cultures (I won’t mention which one) thinks it’s ok to EAT human aborted BABIES. They think it makes the men more “manly”! Well, Esther, I guess if you feel that using LIVING beings for YOUR selfish reasons, I guess I’m not going to be shocked when PEOPLE believe it’s OK to kill and eat human babies either. As for “turning people off to their cause” VEGANS and VEGETARIANS don’t have to answer for YOUR actions! You do! Vegans, et al live by EXAMPLE. You make your own BAD choices and yes, you will pay for them in kind…it’s called the Law of Reciprocity. Like it or not, it is a UNIVERSAL law; it’s unforgiving and relentless and won’t be denied satisfaction. So, it IS up to YOU after all. So, you go ahead and eat your “humanely” murdered cadavers and maintain the barbaric lifestyle of a cave dweller. Other people will make the humane choice and ascend to greatness and will be, again, repaid in kind for making compassionate and UNSELFISH choices! Good luck to you Esther, you’re going to need it.
Again, I have just ONE question: WHY, WHY, WHY do VEGAN/VEGETARIAN forums, websites, discussion groups ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, attract the people who think that murdering animals for whatever reason is ok? Why don\’t they start their own websites and spew out their nazi views there? Why do they come to forums like this an attack vegans et al for being compassionate and caring for others rather than being selfish sub-human idiots? I guess I have the answer: must be GUILT. If you\’ll notice VEGANS et al, aren\’t at all GUILTY for what they do and they don\’t have to defend it with the venom that the pro-murdering carnivores do. There\’s a reason that GUILT exists folks! It\’s called WAKE UP! You ARE GUILTY because you KNOW you are convicted and yet you won\’t take the responsibility to act on it! Cowards! So-called \”caring\” dairy farmers use all the lame arguments in the world to try to CONVINCE THEMSELVES that what they are doing is good for the world!! Look at yourselves in the mirror and the image you\’ll see reflected there is the image of a swastika! You are doing to animals EXACTLY what the nazi\’s did to innocent people in WWII! And you defend it like they did too! You have perpetrated a holocaust on the animal kingdom because YOU think that YOU are superior and that you have the RIGHT to murder them for YOUR REASONS! You are GUILTY of MURDERING innocent souls, yes SOULS for your enjoyment and selfishness. The shame of all of the innocent who have suffered because of YOU will be on you and the generations of your family who continue this genocide against the lives of those who inhabit the animal kingdom.
So I also have just ONE question: WHY, WHY, WHY do VEGAN/VEGETARIAN forums, websites, discussion groups ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS think that farmers do not care about animals!!!!!!!!! We CARE CARE CARE for the animals on this planet!!! We really do :)
We don’t comment on your posts because we feel guilty, we comment on them because we CARE!
Check out my blog to find out how REAL dairies treat cows. http://crazymoos.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/keeping-cows-comfortable-is-a-dairies-number-1-priority/