An open letter to all those concerned and outraged by the Conklin Dairy Farm incident…
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kathy Swift and I grew up on a dairy farm in northern Virginia. My parents milked 100 Holstein and Jersey cows and I spent many years in 4-H traveling around to county, state and national shows exhibiting my dairy cattle. I chose to have a career in agriculture and in 1997, I received my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. I have been a cattle veterinarian in northern Florida and southern Georgia for the last 13 years. I would like to take a moment to address the actions in the Conklin Dairy Farm video as a member of the veterinary community.
First of all, I would like to apologize on behalf of the dairy business. I am terribly sorry that the video has caused many of you to reconsider consuming dairy and beef products. I am sorry that you had to consider whether all animals were treated this way. I am sorry that you had to wonder whether the dairy products in your refrigerator were produced by cattle that have been treated humanely and with great care and respect. If anything good comes out of this incident, it is that the dairy business has made it clear that we will not tolerate such behavior . It is morally reprehensible and we do not condone it in any way, shape or form. Period.
There are many organizations claiming to be animal advocates and fighting for the rights and well being of farm animals. They would have you believe that the agriculture industry has no concern for its animals or their welfare. They would have you believe that we are not listening to consumers. They would have you believe that we are not going to change. I am here to share several facts with you:
The veterinary community continues to learn and educate farmers about proper animal care and animal welfare. More and more research dollars are spent annually to learn how animals process and react to pain and, more specifically, what we can do improve. For example, a study was recently done at Kansas State University using thermal imaging as a way to assess animals’ response to pain. From that information, we can learn how to handle cattle more appropriately and treat them with suitable medications as situations deem necessary.
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners recently conducted a survey assessing veterinarians’ use of pain relieving medications in promoting animal welfare and proper animal care. Currently, only one non steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID) is approved for use in cattle. More options are needed. The information collected by this survey will prove valuable in continuing to work with the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical manufacturers to allow us more legal access to medicines. This will allow farmers, ranchers and veterinarians to enhance animal welfare without risking the safety of the food supply.
Most recently, Kansas State University hosted a Beef Cattle Welfare symposium to scientists, veterinarians and ranchers to discuss current thoughts and needs within the farming community. Quoting Dan Thomson, DVM, PhD, director of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University, “(this year) we talked about issues. We talked about confidence in an industry. We know we do a dang good job of raising cattle and we do everything at a very high level. But we want to get better every day. We have more openness, more transparency. We are focusing on the future and outcome- based measures for change.” Conference speaker, Temple Grandin, PhD, a pioneer in proper cattle handling and animal welfare, spoke about “How to Set Up and Implement an Auditing System”. She has been instrumental in making positive impacts on how cattle are handled and processed for slaughter.
On a local level, I continue to educate my clients about what they can do improve animal welfare situations on their farms. I show them how to use a local anesthetic when dehorning calves to prevent pain. I continue to use a tranquilizer with pain killer activity whenever I am castrating calves. I educate farmers and ranchers on the appropriate times to use pain relieving medications. We discuss ways to handle and work with cattle to present them with the least amount of stress. Animals that are well cared for are much healthier and cost the farm less overall in reduced health care costs and improved efficiency.
On a larger local level, I was asked and actively participated in helping to formulate an animal welfare audit for the regional dairy farm milk cooperative. This audit consisted of a series of questions addressing animal housing, veterinary care, nutrition, milking machine and milking parlor maintenance, calf and heifer care, and personnel training and education. By March 2010, all members of the milk cooperative had been audited by a veterinarian and achieved a passing score of 90 percent or above. (Now I realize that you could be skeptical here and say that those passing scores are not valid, but I don’t know of any veterinarian willing to risk his or her license to pass a farm as humanely taking care of their animals if they are not.) This form was not requested by any organization. It was instead a step taken by the milk cooperative in response to public concern and questions about animal welfare.
The take away message from all this: agriculture IS listening.
I could go on here, but I will instead encourage you to go straight to the source. Who didn’t learn at a young age that messages get twisted and misconstrued simply going from one person to the next? I don’t want you to only listen to me about animal welfare. Meet the farmers in your community. I persuade you not to just ask the easy questions, but ask the hard ones too. The difficult questions are what get good open dialogue started. You don’t need the filters of animal activist groups; go straight to the source. Don’t have a farmer close to you? Contact your state Farm Bureau. They will be happy to put you in touch with a farmer that you have an interest in learning more about.
Anyone reading this letter is cordially invited to connect with me on twitter @cowartandmore. I am happy to listen and answer questions. If I can’t give you an answer, I will be happy to find you someone that can.
Sincerely,
Kathy Swift, DVM
Note from MPK: Kathy Swift is a practicing large animal veterinarian who is also a mom and a gifted artist. She blogs about two of her passions in life: agriculture and art on her blog, cowartandmore.blogspot.com. I have great admiration for Kathy and would encourage you to connect with her. She’s a great example of agvocacy on and off the farm.
Gate to Plate Blog by Michele Payn-Knoper 
June 2, 2010 at 4:04 pm
If the dairy and farmiong industry is so compassionate, then why do we keep seeing these types of cases surface…? Shame on you…practice what you preach, don’t cover up what you do.
June 3, 2010 at 7:33 pm
I don’t think this behavior is the norm. Why aren’t the farmers who do treat their animals well, showcased? When these farmers come forward and say they are doing things right, why are they not believed and accepted? AR activists will never show you any side but theirs and that is a shame. Dr. Swift is right, get out there an see for yourself. We all have the responsibility to seek the truth, not rely on reporters and AR activists, who only tell us want they want and want us kept in the dark. After all, if we find the truth, we may stand on our two feet and shout “enough”
June 4, 2010 at 11:43 am
Ralph,
As with ANY industry, there are always bad apples. The important thing to note here is that the dairy industry has shown that we WILL NOT tolerate such behavior to animals. It’s too bad the press has failed to cover that aspect.
June 3, 2010 at 1:39 am
Ralph,
Maybe a better question to ask is why do we see these types of cases surface whenever legislation or petitions are being pushed?
As Dr. Swift urged, people need to go to farms and see for themselves how the animals are treated and ask questions and LEARN.
Have you ever watched movies on TV or DVD? Do you see a lot of violent behavior that looks real? Do you see medical shows where they treat people who are made up to look like accident victims very realistically? (House, ER, CSI and even the old MASH tv shows). Video can be edited and people can act very believably just as they do to create movie effects.
If you want the truth you go to the source and see for yourself. Dr. Swift has told the public how to find farmers if they don’t know of any personally in their areas. Better yet offer to help out for even one day to see what it’s like to work with livestock. Experience is the best teacher.
July 6, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Actually, it’s not a better question. It’s the question people ask when they want to deny and/or deflect. For you to suggest that the videos are edited or even fake shows that you’re not willing to hold people and the industry *accountable* for actions.
A few bad apples are making it hard on the entire industry and yet here there’s a comment trying to explain away the inhumane handling of animals along with a suggestion of basically, “don’t knock it ’til you try it” as though any bad behavior of a cow (or other animal) justifies a beat-down and if only the ignorant public knew better by spending a day with the animals, they’d understand.
On the other thread someone named “Case” responded to me trying to justify all of the actions the public finds distasteful. Too bad he/she included tail docking as it’s pretty well agreed in the industry that it’s unnecessary. “Case” comes across as resistant to change.
June 21, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Kathy,
This is a great article. Whether the abuse on Conklin Dairy farm happened or not this is a very unfortunate scenario for all consumers, producers and animals.
It is unfortunate for consumers because they are forced to question how there food is produced.
It is unfortunate for producers because these types of videos can really affect demand. As a producer, it is not fair to me or my family to have such a disturbing video represent what happens on our farm.
I’m not sure I need to explain why it’s bad for the animals…
Every industry has its unfortunates- bad doctors, bad lawyers, bad parents and so on… Everyday doctors are saving lives but that doesn’t seem to make the news. But if a doctor kills someone that’s certain to make the news.
As a consumer, producer and an animal lover please take Kathy’s advice on researching! I am a family farmer that produces chickens, beef and pork- I’d be happy to be an animal on my farm!