Victory: We’re very pleased to announce that the unfounded charge against COK’s courageous investigator Taylor Radig has been dropped! On Jan. 10, 2014, the Weld County District Attorney’s office filed a motion to dismiss the charge, noting that “the charges can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” Read more about the bogus charge and read Taylor’s message of heartfelt gratitude .

Criminal Cruelty Cases: The video footage showing hideous abuse of newborn calves that Taylor provided to authorities also led to criminal animal cruelty charges against three people who were caught by COK’s camera abusing these very young and fragile animals:

All three defendants pleaded guilty to criminal cruelty to animals. Two were sentenced on April 29 and the third former Quanah Cattle Company employee was sentenced on June 2. During the April 29 court sentencing, the judge described the kicking, shoving, dragging and throwing of these calves, noting that COK’s video was “disturbing to court.”

Highlights: COK investigator wins Whistleblower of the Year & the Patty Shenker Animal Rights Activist Award.

In 2013, a COK undercover investigator worked inside Quanah Cattle Co. (QCC), an animal agribusiness company in Kersey, Colorado that purchases newborn calves from surrounding dairy factories and temporarily confines them before shipping them out to be raised for their meat. Just days old, many of these calves – some of whom still have their umbilical cords hanging from their bodies – are too feeble or frightened to walk steadily. As our footage shows, in the process of being moved on and off trucks, these fragile animals are violently dragged by their legs, pulled by their ears, lifted by their tails, kicked, thrown, slammed, and flipped.

Animal handling expert Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University decried the cruelty seen in our video, calling it “severe abuse” and “not acceptable” while further noting that “If this facility had been a slaughter plant, the USDA would have shut them down.”

The cruelty to calves uncovered in the Quanah investigation was so shocking and violent that COK turned evidence over to local authorities, and we are now working with them on this case.

The Dairy Industry: Most of the dairy calves purchased by Quanah Cattle Company are male – they’re considered unwanted industry byproducts since they’re unable to produce milk. After being trucked in and unloaded at Quanah Cattle Company, they’ll be confined in crates or hutches for around a week and then loaded back on trucks to be shipped out, sold, and raised for their meat. Marketed as veal or beef, depending on their age when slaughtered, these young animals are the often forgotten victims of the dairy industry.

Please also make a donation today to lend your support to our undercover investigators who painstakingly witness and document these hidden horrors in order to shine a bright on the miseries forced upon farmed animals.