I'm excited to share a major legal victory from just this week. The story starts in 2018 when an Animal Outlook investigator spent nearly three months working undercover at Martin Farms, a Pennsylvania dairy facility. While working there, our investigator documented senseless and violent abuse to both mother cows and their defenseless calves.
The abuse witnessed during this investigation was shocking, and included many instances of cruelty including:
Cows unable to walk or stand, being hoisted by their hips with metal clamps to be moved, or chained and dragged by a tractor.
Baby calves enduring workers burning hot irons into their flesh and bone to destroy horns and growth tissue.
Cows, many sick and injured, being hit, stomped on, their tails pulled, or kicked by workers.
Cows suffering bloody, painful uterine prolapses and open sores without veterinary care.
We were appalled by this horrendous treatment of innocent cows, and our Legal Advocacy team vowed to do all they could to hold the perpetrators of this abuse accountable.
Despite hours of video evidence submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police, they refused to take action against Martin Farms for animal abuse.
Top: A terrified downed cow after being hoisted by her hips with a metal clamp.
Bottom: Hot irons are used to sear off the newly growing horns of calves.
A private complaint was then submitted by Animal Outlook to the Franklin County District Attorney, who decided that this case was without merit. As Pennsylvania law allows the right to appeal the denial of a private complaint, we requested a judge review the case. The judge agreed with the District Attorney.
While it seemed the odds were stacked against us, and the cows, our legal team refused to give up and appealed to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Animal Outlook’s Legal Counsel Will Lowrey argued on behalf of the cows abused at Martin Farms in front of three judges. These judges ruled that the Franklin County District Attorney and lower court judge were incorrect in their decision that this case was without merit. They ordered the lower court to require the District Attorney to file charges against those responsible for horrific abuses inflicted upon cows at Martin Farms.
Erin Wing, Animal Outlook’s deputy director of investigations who documented the abuse while working as an undercover investigator and employed at Martin Farms, said, “Since the end of my investigation of Martin Farms in 2018, the images of routine cruelty and violence I witnessed there have been burned into my memory. It made me wonder what the limit was for how much cruelty a farm could put animals through before such blatant abuse was recognized. With that accountability finally being delivered by this ruling, I hope this sets a new standard going forward.”
This is a huge win for animals and would not have been possible without you by our side. Your continued support ensures our legal team is able to continue their work to strategically challenge the status quo of animal agribusiness, from animal cruelty to misleading marketing and unfair business practices.
Thank you for your support. Together, we will build a kinder world for all animals, and a world where the systemic abuse within animal agriculture is considered unacceptable by all.
With gratitude,
Cheryl Leahy
Executive Director
P.S. Want to support legal advocacy for animals year-round? You can do this by joining our United for Change monthly giving program. Your continued support will ensure our legal team can continue to fight on behalf of animals by holding animal abusers accountable for the cruelty they inflict on those trapped in the animal agriculture industry.
As a non-profit organization, Animal Outlook relies on donations from caring, generous people like you. Every dollar matters. Your support makes a world of difference to farmed animals.
