Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
A video that surfaced this week purporting to show alleged mistreatment of animals at a Shawano County dairy farm has gained national attention, along with criticism over how authorities have responded to the incident.
Locally, however, there are still lingering questions about what the video actually shows and whether it constitutes animal abuse or common dairy farming practices that seem abusive to the outside observer.
The video was made in August by Los Angeles-based Mercy for Animals, which secretly videotaped operations at the Alan Andrus farm in Birnamwood.
The video was turned over to the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the incidents and referred the matter to the Shawano-Menominee County District Attorney’s Office.
The district attorney’s office declined to file any criminal charges, based largely on comments from veterinarians who viewed the video, according to sheriff’s detectives investigating the incidents.
“The actions of the employees caught on video do not amount to a situation where criminal charges are warranted based upon the review of local and state vets,” Assistant District Attorney Scott Niemi wrote in a notice of non-prosecution that was returned to the sheriff’s department.
At the same time, however, Niemi recommended in his notice that Andrus be informed of the issues at his farm.
“I would also inform him that he can fire or retrain his employees but his farm will be inspected by someone at some time in the future and any abuse noted will be attributed to him as he has been warned of the issues,” Niemi wrote.
Niemi also wrote that Andrus could start forfeiture actions against any of his employees involved.
The Andrus family issued a statement saying it was shocked to learn what was going on.
“No one in our family was aware of such conduct occurring on our farm,” the statement read. “We don’t condone this kind of behavior and have immediately begun to work with our farm veterinarians and dairy industry resources to access and implement training and enforcement mechanisms to address proper animal handling with our workforce.”
The district attorney’s office has fielded a steady stream of calls from media and other sources nationwide over that decision for the last two days. The office is declining any comment beyond providing the non-prosecution letter.
The video — or at least edited snippets of it — has been getting ample airplay on area TV news media, provoking an emotional response even from those familiar with dairy farm operations.
“I cried when I saw it,” Shawano County dairy farmer Deb Mielke said.
Mielke is president of the Shawano County Farm Bureau, but said her comments reflected only her views and not the position of the Farm Bureau.
“Animals are our life,” she said. “I don’t like to see them going through that.”
But at the same time, Mielke said, there was nothing she saw in the broadcast video that didn’t conform with standard dairy farm operating procedures. She also noted that the veterinarians contacted by the sheriff’s department didn’t view any of the activity as criminal.
Mielke said dairy farmers often have to resort to measures that “don’t look humane” when dealing with a 1,200-pound animal.
That could include the use of machinery and sticks to get a downed cow up and moving again, she said.
Mielke said the video she saw didn’t make the context of the incidents clear, or whether farm employees abused correct operating procedures.
“(The video) could have been doctored,” she said.
Mielke, who said she is not familiar with operations at the Andrus farm, said most dairy operators try to treat their cows as humanely as possible.
“We do anything we can so they’re comfortable and happy,” she said. “If they’re under stress, they will not eat, they will not milk.”
Mielke said one can tell whether cows are contented by visiting a properly-run dairy farm and listening to how quiet it is.
“If they’re not being treated humanely, you know,” she said.
Mielke said even the use of sticks is done sparingly.
“Sticks stress them out,” she said. “We try to do the best we can.”
The video also purports to show cows’ tails being cut off, but, Mielke said, it was unclear whether that was a later stage of the common practice of “tail docking,” in which the blood supply to the tail is cut off with a band — usually when the cow is still a calf — and the tail falls off on its own.
Mielke said she was initially against that practice until she tried milking a cow in the parlor.
“The manure was flying all over,” she said.
Similar animal abuse allegations surfaced earlier this year after Mercy for Animals released a video of operations secretly recorded at a Brown County dairy farm, though in that case charges of animal abuse were filed against four farm workers.
Mielke said there have been discussions with other area dairy farmers since then on making sure there is more training and a better understanding of operating procedures for those working on dairy farms, but also more outreach and education for the public about why those operating practices are necessary.
“Everything is perception,” she said. “Hopefully we can turn this around.”