Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details that might disturb some readers.
Alexandre Family Farms is being sued by an animal rights group seeking an injunction against the company for allegedly salting the eyeballs of diseased cows, dragging them across concrete with heavy machinery, cutting the teats off dairy cows with no anesthesia and other acts of animal cruelty.
In April, a report authored by another animal rights organization — and subsequently covered in a damning article in The Atlantic — used whistleblower complaints alleging the company routinely starved, physically tortured and neglected their cows before selling the most sick and unwell animals at auctions. Alexandre Family Farms, which sells dairy products nationwide, markets itself as a leader in humane farming, denies the allegations and did not comment on pending litigation.
The complaint filed by Legal Impact for Chickens serves as a retread of the whistleblower accounts in the report released by Farm Forward: inhumane conditions created by farm owners Blake, Stephanie and Joseph Alexandre combined led to the death and suffering of hundreds of their cows.
In one instance detailed in the complaint, a cow with eye cancer that should have been euthanized was instead kept it alive with agonizing, unsuccessful home remedies so the farm could sell it.
“Even after discovering the cows have cancer, Alexandre commits cruelty by keeping cows alive, gluing patches on their eyes, and in some cases even gluing their eyes closed. Alexandre commits this cruelty for no other apparent reason than to deceive prospective buyers and maximize Alexandre’s own profits,” the complaint said. “These ill cows cannot be used for meat. Rather, once a beef-industry buyer removes the patch and discovers the cancer, the buyer will have no better choice than to euthanize the suffering animal. Gluing on an eye patch simply serves to increase Defendants’ profits while prolonging and increasing the cow’s suffering.”
The farm told The Atlantic reporter Annie Lowrey that the denim patches contained a saline solution with cod liver oil meant to treat pink eye. A large animal veterinarian interviewed by Lowery described that tactic to treat eye diseases in cows as “nonsense.”
Legal Impact for Chickens still must serve the suit to Alexandre Family Farms within 60 days, then the farm must file a response.
Another part of the complaint described an instance when an employee treated a cow with mastitis by cutting off a chunk of her teat with a dirty pocket knife. The accompanying photo depicts a necrotic-looking cow teat above a pool of blood.
If a judge grants the injunction, the farm would have to pay for their legal opponents’ attorney fees and face legal repercussions if they don’t abide by the ruling.
“We’re just asking them to follow the law. We’re not doing this for money. We just want them to treat the animals better,” Alena Anello, president of Legal Impact for Chickens said.
The complaint further accused the farm of creating conditions so inhospitable that dozens of animals either died or had to be euthanized: citing an instance when the farm allegedly stopped feeding the cows in an attempt to get them to forage on the company’s lands. When a feed truck finally showed up, about 800 cows began a stampede, killing 40 of them in the mad dash for food, according to the complaint.
Cows were starved so egregiously — with the plaintiffs alleging the farm intentionally buys more cows than their land can support — that at one point, the farm had to euthanize about 80 of its heifers because they were too skinny to give birth, the complaint alleged.
While the farm did not comment on the pending litigation, previous media statements have denied the allegations, accusing Farm Forward and Lowrey of behaving in bad faith.
“We accept responsibility for all animal treatment on our farm. Now that we have had a chance to read the report, we have determined that many of the allegations are either totally false or fabricated half-truths. If we uncover areas for improvement, we will take appropriate steps to address them,” the statement said.
“Cows are gentle, sensitive animals. They develop friendships with one another. They feel pain every bit as much as your dog or cat at home and they deserve to be treated with kindness. That is why animal cruelty is illegal in California,” Anello said.
The complaint can be viewed in full at legalimpactforchickens.org/alexandre-complaint and the report can be found at https://bit.ly/3XOGeKS.
Jackson Guilfoil can be reached at 707-441-0506