Yet another horror story has come out about the abuse of animals on farms. This time it’s at the Fair Oaks farm in Indiana.  The owners give the usual excuse that they didn’t know this was going on. They express shock and make the usual promises to make things better. Unfortunately, we’ve heard this all before!

Three former employees of the large northwestern Indiana dairy have been charged with animal cruelty, following the release of an undercover video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves. Even worse, the video showed calves being hit with steel rods and burnt with branding irons.

As well as showing animal abuse, the video revealed that the farm had been untruthful about the destination of some of the male calves that were being sent to the veal industry.

Calves raised to make veal are severely confined. Veal calves live the entirety of their short lives in “vela crates,” wooden crates that severely restrict the calves’ movement. These crates are typically only 2.5 feet wide at most and have slatted wooden floors which are hard to stand on.

Calves raised to become veal are also purposely fed an all-liquid milk substitute which is deficient in iron and fiber. This insufficient diet makes the calves severely anemic in order to produce the pale-colored flesh that veal-eaters prefer.

While undercover videos and law enforcement have their place, the only way to truly eliminate farm animal abuse is to follow a plant-based diet. When people stop buying animal products, and especially meat such as veal, farmers will stop producing it for sale and much animal suffering will be prevented.