NMPF Statement on Dairy Video
October 10, 2012
From Jerry Kozak, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation
ARLINGTON, VA – “The video released on October 10, 2012 is deeply disturbing and depicts practices by individuals that are absolutely unacceptable. Idaho’s dairy farmers, and those across the rest of the country, do not countenance this type of treatment. The dairy industry takes claims about animal mistreatment very seriously. Any evidence of animal abuse should be taken promptly to the appropriate state and local authorities whose job it is to investigate those claims. An independent animal care review panel organized by the Center for Food Integrity confirmed that the practices seen in the video were unacceptable and abusive. Five employees in the incident have been fired by the dairy farm, and authorities in Idaho have investigated the incident charging several individuals with animal cruelty.
“On a national level, many farms have adopted the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) Program’s animal care standards. Those standards disavow malicious striking or dragging animals. Responsible animal stewardship is a good thing for people and cows, and the FARM program, developed by NMPF, is designed to promote the best practices in animal care that consumers have come to expect from the dairy sector.”
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 30 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.
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