OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — The Animal Recovery Mission released video Thursday the group says shows abuse at McArthur Farms in Okeechobee County.

ARM held a news conference in Deerfield Beach at 11 a.m. to discuss the video. On Wednesday, they said new video also shows abuse at Larson Dairy in Okeechobee.

The animal group says their undercover investigators recorded dairy cows being tormented, beaten and chased down with PVC piping and homemade tools.

One of the tools they said included a kitchen knife attached to the end of a PVC pipe, which was thrust into the side of the cows.

ARM said blow torches are also inhumanely used to sear the hairs off of the cows' udders as a shortcut to sanitizing the teats before milking.

The group said blow torches were aimed at the faces of cows and against their bodies in order to maneuver them.

McArthur Farms is also accused of using improper and inhumane procedures for birthing pregnant cows on site. It said pregnant cows are also being unnecessarily prodded with electrical devices during labor.

Thursday afternoon Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen announced 3 arrests in the McArthur Farms investigation and he said that a warrant is out for the arrest of a 4th person.

"We are still conducting further investigation. We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of video that has been supplied to us that we have not been able to go through. We have to go through that minute by minute so this case is ongoing," Sheriff Stephen said.

McArthur's milk is used in products sold at Walmart, Target and Publix.

After seeing a news release from ARM, Dean Foods said, "While we proudly own the McArthur Dairy brand in Miami, the name is coincidental and we don’t own that farm."

Dean Foods also said: "McArthur Farms is part of the Southeast Milk Cooperative and is consequently in our milk supply. Dean Foods is appalled at the behaviors shown in the released video. We believe that providing for the health and welfare of dairy cows is the right thing to do and we expect all farmers to ensure their animals are being cared for and handled according to sound animal welfare principles. Between the video being taken and released, we recognize that SMI took ownership of the problem and is taking proactive steps with all their members to address animal welfare on the farms."

Publix issued this response: We were recently made aware of an additional undercover video, which was taken at McArthur Farms. We are upset by the images and disturbed by the cruelty shown toward the animals. As soon as we were made aware of the behaviors in the video, we immediately suspended receiving raw milk product from this McArthur farm. While we carry numerous products from Dean Foods Company, which owns the McArthur Dairy brand and dairy processing plant in Miami, Dean Foods does not own or control any dairy farms and is in no way involved in the management of McArthur Farms.



At Publix, we care about and are committed to animal welfare. We continue to work with Southeast Milk Incorporated (SMI) Cooperative and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to advance efforts that continuously improve the safety and well-being for all animals. By the end of this week, all SMI member farms will have completed animal welfare training under The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program in cooperation with the National Milk Producers Federation. In addition, we have conducted our own, independent, on-site animal welfare assessments on over a dozen dairy farms in Florida. We will continue to conduct these audits and remain focused on working with suppliers who share our values and goals.

“As we’ve said, we take these allegations extremely seriously. We have zero tolerance for animal abuse and will make any improvements needed to ensure the health and well-being of all dairy cows. Southeast Milk, Inc. (SMI) continues to take corrective action including holding mandatory management and animal care trainings for all SMI member owners this week," Southeast Milk Inc. CEO Jim Sleper said in a statement.

"We are working closely with our members to install or improve video surveillance on their dairies and have accelerated the adoption of the newest iteration of the National Dairy F.A.R.M. Program, which requires even more employee training on farms and stricter requirements for working with veterinarians, among other standards. These actions reaffirm our commitment to our customers and consumers that animal care is our top priority," Sleper added.

