A Tulare feed company is under scrutiny after an animal abuse video hit YouTube. The video shows calves being treated violently and was shot at one of the company's operations out of state.
Joe Ybarra spoke with the animal rights group that released the video and also has reaction from the local company involved.
Warning, the video above has pictures that may be disturbing to some people.
The video shows workers pulling calves by their ears and legs as well as kicking and tossing them around. We spoke with Erica Meir over the phone. She's with 'Compassion Over Killing', the group that released the video on YouTube.
"If this was an animal slaughter facility, the USDA would have shut them down but unfortunately, this facility isn't subject to federal animal oversight," says Meir.
Meier says the video was shot at Quanah Cattle Company in Colorado. Quanah is essentially a calf handling facility. They raise calves until they're shipped either to a dairy or to a slaughter facility. The operation is owned by JD Heiskell in Tulare. he says an investigator went undercover for 3 months in hopes of exposing alleged animal cruelty behind closed doors.
"We are calling upon the local authorities to file criminal charges and we're also hoping the dairy industry will use this as an opportunity to prevent such cruelty from happening in the future," says Meir.
As of Thursday afternoon the video had a little over 5,000 views. People we talked to in Tulare were upset after watching just a few seconds of it.
"Anything like that, it bothers me a lot...it's cruel," said one of the viewers.
Said another, "That's so cruel, I can't even watch."
People at JD Heiskell also watched the video. The Chairman of the Board, Scott Hillman released the following statement:
"Animal mistreatment is a cause of great concern to us. We were dismayed by many of the images. We are in the process of investigating to determine the facts of this situation.
We will strengthen the training and supervision of the employees at the facility to ensure compliance with industry standards and the law."
Compassion Over Killing did hand the video to authorities and it has sparked an investigation with the sheriff's department in Colorado.
his is the same group that helped shut down Central Valley Meat Company in Hanford. After viewing the footage from that incident, the USDA shut temporarily shut down the facility.
Joe Ybarra spoke with the animal rights group that released the video and also has reaction from the local company involved.
Warning, the video above has pictures that may be disturbing to some people.
The video shows workers pulling calves by their ears and legs as well as kicking and tossing them around. We spoke with Erica Meir over the phone. She's with 'Compassion Over Killing', the group that released the video on YouTube.
"If this was an animal slaughter facility, the USDA would have shut them down but unfortunately, this facility isn't subject to federal animal oversight," says Meir.
Meier says the video was shot at Quanah Cattle Company in Colorado. Quanah is essentially a calf handling facility. They raise calves until they're shipped either to a dairy or to a slaughter facility. The operation is owned by JD Heiskell in Tulare. he says an investigator went undercover for 3 months in hopes of exposing alleged animal cruelty behind closed doors.
"We are calling upon the local authorities to file criminal charges and we're also hoping the dairy industry will use this as an opportunity to prevent such cruelty from happening in the future," says Meir.
As of Thursday afternoon the video had a little over 5,000 views. People we talked to in Tulare were upset after watching just a few seconds of it.
"Anything like that, it bothers me a lot...it's cruel," said one of the viewers.
Said another, "That's so cruel, I can't even watch."
People at JD Heiskell also watched the video. The Chairman of the Board, Scott Hillman released the following statement:
"Animal mistreatment is a cause of great concern to us. We were dismayed by many of the images. We are in the process of investigating to determine the facts of this situation.
We will strengthen the training and supervision of the employees at the facility to ensure compliance with industry standards and the law."
Compassion Over Killing did hand the video to authorities and it has sparked an investigation with the sheriff's department in Colorado.
his is the same group that helped shut down Central Valley Meat Company in Hanford. After viewing the footage from that incident, the USDA shut temporarily shut down the facility.