Why I'm mad as hell

Today I have followed the release of the damaging video footage that documented abuse of dairy calves and heifers at Conklin Dairy Farm in Plain City, Ohio. Like many of you, I watched the savage abuse against defenseless calves, heifers and cows in horror.

First, the footage brought tears to my eyes. Then a pit deep to my stomach. But then it began to make me mad as hell. First, I am angry at the young man shown in the video. The actions against the animals that are documented as his in this video are inexcusable and demonstrate a lack of compassion for life of any form. No matter what the Union County justice system decides is his punishment, I fully believe the Creator will have a final judgment for him one day.

Second, I am angry for the erroneous message this video sends, that wrongly implies those who work in agriculture in our state, and especially in animal husbandry, are callous, disregarding of animal welfare and abusive, when nothing could be further from the truth. The farmers of our state care deeply for the creatures they tend. They worry at each new birth, each sign of poor health and they sweat the details that are required to improve the nutrition, care and management of their animals. They love the animals they tend - or they would certainly not be in business very long.

In the dairy industry, farmers strive for less stress to their cows, which helps them improve milk production. In today's dairy industry, milk producers are already hanging by a thread, so they are doing all they can to help increase their milk production and retain what little profit they can. That is why you may have seen studies that showed cows that were able to stand on modified waterbed mattresses were more comfortable and produced more milk.

Cows that are afraid, stressed or injured will produce less milk.

Cows that are injured cannot be sold for a profit.

To abuse these animals is to sabotage your very livelihood as a dairy farmer.

To abuse these animals makes no logical sense, and to imply that this is routine animal husbandry is absolutely asinine. To suggest that we should abolish the dairy industry because of the actions of one individual is like saying we should close all churches because there are abusive priests, or to close all schools because a teacher had an affair with a student.

But the biggest reason that I'm mad as hell is that common sense did not intervene regarding the horrific actions the video depicted. How can a human being watch these unspeakable abuses go on for more than a month and not turn them directly in to authorities? Why release the video publicly without working to stop the abuse first? By not going directly to authorities, the videographer is in essence an accessory to the crime, an enabler for the crimes to continue unhindered for more than a month. In my mind, that lack of action shows the video maker's real motive - and it is not the welfare of these animals.

I hope you're as mad as hell too. It's about time for someone to stand up for the animals. But I'm here to tell you, that someone is not those who want you to become a vegetarian and shut down dairy farms. As this video shows, many of those individuals are more concerned with promoting their agendas than with the welfare of animals. Please keep this in mind as you watch the development of the Ohio Livestock Care Board. The board should be allowed to develop its policies using the process that the good citizens of this state approved last year - not coerced into the political agendas of organizations outside our state.