Central Ohio dairy farm employees abuse cows

Another cow issue has brought both national and international attention to Ohio.

An undercover video was recently released by an animal rights organization showing graphic animal abuse taking place at a central Ohio dairy farm.

Mercy for Animals created substantial buzz May 25 when the nonprofit organization put the video on YouTube and its website.

In the video, employees at Conklin Dairy Farms in Plain City are shown beating cows with crowbars, stabbing them with pitchforks and snapping their tails off. It shows a calf being kicked and stomped in the face as well as repeated kicking and punching of other cows.

Not surprisingly, the video has drawn a variety of responses from viewers. It has also created controversy for the farm, which is located 25 miles northwest of campus.

A May 27 media statement from owner Gary Conklin said he condemns the abuse.

"The video shows animal care that is clearly inconsistent with the high standards we set for our farm and its workers, and we find the specific mistreatment shown on the video to be reprehensible and unacceptable," he said.

Despite his statement, Conklin is identified in the video kicking a "downer" — a cow that is too sick to move. Conklin's son, Ryan, is a fourth-year at OSU in agriculture business and animal science. He declined an interview with The Lantern.

Video was shot undercover from April 28 to May 23. The Mercy for Animals employee who shot the video was hired by Conklin Farms as a herdsman in late April. He collected more than 20 hours of footage, which was used to make Mercy for Animals' four-minute clip. Remaining footage is in the hands of Union County law enforcement authorities.

One of the Conklin Farms employees, Billy Joe Gregg, was arrested May 26 on suspected animal abuse charges. His presence in the video is the most pronounced, which might explain why he is the only employee to face charges at this point. Union County officials continue to investigate.

Gregg, 25, of Delaware, Ohio, also faces a gun charge related to a loaded handgun found in his car, which was parked at the farm. He was indicted by a Union County grand jury on one count of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.

Gregg was fired from his job May 26 and was charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty. The animal cruelty charges are all second-degree misdemeanors. In Ohio, the most severe charge for animal cruelty is a misdemeanor.

Each of the 12 misdemeanor counts carries a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $750 fine. However, the maximum sentence is a combined 18 months. Gregg is scheduled to be in Union County Common Pleas Court on June 10.

Gregg asked his judge that he not be kept in jail while waiting for trial because he has appointments with the Department of Veterans Affairs, a law-enforcement exam to become a police officer, and animals of his own to take care of.

But his request was denied, and his bond was set at $100,000.

Mercy for Animals, a Chicago-based organization, said it chose Ohio because of the state's lax laws on animal abuse. However, the group says there was no particular reason Conklin Farms was chosen for Mercy's undercover investigation.

"This was not an insider tip. We selected the farm at random," said Eddie Garza, coordinator of Mercy for Animals.

The group's selection of the farm has been the main focus of skeptics, as Conklin Farms has never faced public allegations of abuse or mistreatment of its animals.

Katherine Hoang, a fourth-year in marketing, said that although she thinks Gregg deserves a harsh punishment, the circumstances would be a little different if he had abused humans.

She said she supports animal rights but feels cruelty against either humans or animals should be judged on a case-by-case basis.

There are so many factors, she said. People seem to accept that lab mice aren't necessarily treated as other animals are.

"Where do we draw the line?" she said.

Natalie Williams, a fourth-year in French, voiced similar concerns. She said she thinks Gregg should be punished, though she is more concerned with human rights than animal rights. However, she said she is alarmed when she hears a story like Gregg's. Any type of violence like that, no matter who or what it's directed toward, worries me, she said.