When the guy who has the power also has the facts, he must act.
Animal factories do a great job of operating out of sight.
Out of mind for the cheese-dripping pizza lovers. Not a thought from the bacon and egg greasy-spoon shovelers. Beyond those sidled up to the sushi bar. Absent from those in the tall booths at the steak house.
Agricultural gag laws and de facto practices are attempts to hide crimes so repulsive that they would challenge the status quo of the “food system” and the humans in power.
Mainstream media is what the Humane Herald calls Meatwashed Media. “How the Press Protects Animal Agriculture” asserts that the dearth of reporting on animal exploitation is more than bias; it is a systemic ethical failure that delays justice.
Activists, on the other hand, do a great job of undercover investigations. They document the reality of animals bred and trapped in the animal factory system, and they make that information public.
Activists present the facts to law enforcement. They present the facts to legislators. They present the facts to people like us.
So let’s start with us.
Activists post videos on social media. Eventually these videos find their way into our feeds.
Let’s get specific. Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) via Factory Farm Watch captured footage last year from a Grimmius Cattle Company property in the Central Valley of California.
The video shows baby cows imprisoned in a calf-raising operation. We see calves confined in single crates so small they almost cannot turn around. We see them being shoved, thrown, dragged and shot in the head by workers.
We see this IF we watch the video.
This February, DxE took the facts to Attorney General Rob Bonta. He is both chief legal officer and chief law enforcement officer of California. He is the guy who can take action.
Bonta took no action.
DxE will now hold a Rally to Free the Calves on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 11 a.m. outside Bonta’s office in Sacramento.
Californians, including veterinarians, attorneys, investigators and activists, will demand that he prosecute Grimmius for criminal animal cruelty. If you can’t get to Sacramento, please call or email the AG. You don’t have to live in California to participate.
If we haven’t heard much about calf-raising operations, that’s because the dairy industry works to keep it that way. To learn about this devastating part of the dairy supply chain, start with this article on the Factory Farm Watch website.
Grimmius receives newborn calves every day from across California. Terrified and fragile orphans arrive on transport trucks and are unloaded, sometimes violently, into boxes of about 13 square feet.
In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12, the farm animal confinement initiative. This attempt at animal welfare is still in effect, though it has been threatened by language in farm bill drafts ever since.
Prop 12 requires that each calf raised for veal have at least 43 square feet of usable space. Grimmius claims the rule doesn’t apply to it because its calves are raised for dairy and beef, not veal. This is an obscene loophole.
But DxE argues that Grimmius is breaking the law anyway. California Penal Code 597t states, “Every person who keeps an animal confined in an enclosed area shall provide it with an adequate exercise area.” Investigation footage shows calves that can’t turn around without hitting the walls, let alone exercise.
That footage also shows Grimmius employees violently dragging sick calves and shooting them, and pulling dead calves from their crates.
If you are feeling sad, angry and frustrated at this point, there are two things you can do right now. One, share this information with everyone you know. Two, support the Rally to Free the Calves by calling or emailing California AG Rob Bonta.
He has the power, and he has the facts. Now he has to act.
