Nestle cuts ties with farm over dairy cow abuse
Nestle's Northbrook-based pizza division, which makes DiGiorno and Jack's frozen pies, has cut ties with a Wisconsin farm after an animal rights group released a video of dairy cow abuse.
Mercy for Animals revealed an undercover investigation on Tuesday that showed video footage of cows being beaten, stabbed and dragged by a tractor.
The cows, at Wiese Brothers' Farm in Greenleaf, Wis., supply milk to Foremost Farms, which in turn makes cheese for Nestle.
In a statement to the Tribune, Nestle spokeswoman Deborah Cross said the company is 'outraged and deeply saddened by the mistreatment of animals shown in this video.'
She added: 'We have advised Foremost Farms that we will not accept any cheese made with milk from the Wiese Brothers' Farm.'
Cross said Nestlé is committed to humane animal handling, and pointed to the company's Responsible Sourcing Guidelines 'to help ensure that our suppliers work according to the same principles and values that we do ourselves.'
The Wiese Brothers Farm said it became aware of the video late last month, saying it was 'shocked and saddened to see a few of our employees not following our farm's policies for proper animal care.'
'We have zero tolerance for animal abuse,' the statement continued. 'We are committed to providing optimal care and ask all our employees to demonstrate ongoing respect for every animal at all times.'
At a press conference, Mercy for Animals' general counsel Vandhana Bala outlined the extent of the abuse, which included farm hands stabbing and using a tractor to drag cows that couldn't walk. The farm, which has 4,500 cows that produce about 350,000 pounds of milk daily, was chosen at random to investigate. Mercy for Animals had been conducting similar investigations for 8 years, Bala said, including six investigations into dairy farms that showed similar abuse. 'This leads us to believe that violence and cruelty run rampant in the dairy industry,' Bala said. The undercover employee worked at the Wisconsin farm from Oct. 4 until Nov. 15. Mercy for Animals alerted the Brown County Sheriff's department to the cruelty. 'We have every reason to believe they're taking this issue very seriously,' Bala said.
Because of the disturbing nature of the video, the Tribune is not posting it on its website. It can be viewed here.
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