Mercy for Animals (MFA)
August 2011
[Ed. Note: For background information and link to undercover video, visit Got Milk? How about Mercy for Day-old Calves? MFA Investigation Reveals Barbaric Violence on Texas Dairy Farm - 20 Apr 2011.]
Arturo Olmos, the E6 foreman, has been arrested on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, and five former employees of E6 Cattle are facing felony-level charges of cruelty to animals. All five workers have fled, however, and have yet to be arrested.
This morning, Kirt Espenson, owner of E6 Cattle Company in Texas, was
handed down one-year probation and ordered to pay a $4,000 fine after the
judge entered a deferred adjudication on the Class A Misdemeanor
cruelty-to-animals charge. The sentence stems from chilling evidence
gathered earlier this year during an MFA undercover investigation that
captured on hidden camera workers bashing in the skulls of calves with
hammers and pickaxes, dragging them by their ears, standing on their necks,
and neglecting them to die without proper veterinary care.
Arturo Olmos, the E6 foreman, has been arrested on misdemeanor animal
cruelty charges, and five former employees of E6 Cattle are facing
felony-level charges of cruelty to animals. All five workers have fled,
however, and have yet to be arrested.
During the undercover investigation at E6 Cattle Co. in Hart, Texas - a
factory farm that rears nearly 10,000 calves for use on dairy farms - MFA's
investigator documented:
Espenson's punishment is a slap on the wrist compared to the unimaginable
suffering endured by the animals who were victims of malicious abuse and
neglect under his watch. This case should serve as a wake-up call to all
compassionate citizens that Texas must do more to strengthen its animal
cruelty laws.
While the conviction signals some progress for farmed animals, compassionate
consumers nationwide can prevent cruelty to animals at each meal by adopting
a vegan diet.
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