An animal welfare organization says it went undercover at one of the largest dairy farms in Florida and believes it has uncovered terrible abuse of cows at the Larson Dairy Farm in Okeechobee County.
Animal Recovery Mission went public with its findings because it wants both law enforcement and the public to put pressure on the farm to stop the alleged abuse immediately.
The group released a five-minute video which starts with the herding of cows into large pens in preparation for milking.
RELATED: Link to ARM video. WARNING some may find the video disturbing.
On the video there are men pushing the cows and one is seen even kicking them into the pen.
Another man is on video slapping the cow. WPTV has not independently verified the video.
In the video, you can see men using construction rebar to stab and punch the cows repeatedly.
"A similar piece was used at Larson Dairy to brutalize, stab and beat the animals on a daily basis on an hourly basis; this was very readily available at the dairy barn," said Animal Recovery Mission founder and investigator Richard 'Kudo' Couto.
During the news conference, ARM was asked whether anyone from the group signed anything saying they couldn’t shoot video. They said they signed no such paperwork.
Before they went public with the tape they say they showed it to the state attorney.
They also reportedly set up a meeting with the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office.
Larson Dairy Farms has not yet released a comment.
