Animal cruelty has been discovered behind the scenes at popular pizza cheese suppliers. This might change your mind if you had plans to order a pie from Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, or Domino’s.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Idaho was among several states whose Ag Gag law was declared unconstitutional. What this means is that they made it a criminal offense to film what happens in the process of meat or milk production. It was created as a way to protect the public from the sometimes barbaric way the animals are treated, and now it seems the first results have appeared from its removal.
Mozzarella giant Leprino Foods in New Mexico supplies cheese to three of the biggest fast food pizza chains in the United States. An undercover activist uncovered a shocking (literally) secret behind the processing of the milk used for their cheese.
Apparently the cows’ genitals were being shocked into aggressive milk production. Other actions used on the dairy farm in question are punching and kicking of the livestock, as well as whipping and stabbing them with screwdrivers, as revealed in the disturbing video below.
This kind of animal cruelty is what the Ag Gag law was hiding, and now the facility has been closed down, with all exports of their dairy products rejected. The livestock from Winchester Dairy have been dispersed to other more animal-friendly farms.
Ironically, this coincides with Domino’s recent announcement that their cheese is “crafted to perfection by an award-winning mozzarella maker using milk from family-owned dairy farms.”
Thankfully, it was only the one facility that was using barbaric methods to push more product from its livestock. If the problem is discovered to be more widespread, there could be a vast change in the way mozzarella is supplied, and the price could rise.
This video exposes animal cruelty at the farm for Domino’s and Pizza Hut cheese provider: http://t.co/A6k4x81mxd pic.twitter.com/TgdETGeQ0l
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) September 19, 2014
While animal cruelty is not condoned in any way, it appears with the removal of the Ag Gag law that more will be uncovered in the next decade.
Leprino released a statement Wednesday that reflects their feelings toward the Winchester Dairy farm’s animal cruelty.
“We take these situations extremely seriously and are extremely repulsed by these events. This isolated incident does not reflect the daily care and comfort that New Mexico dairy farmers provide their cows.”
Domino’s spokesperson Tim McIntyre has responded likewise, while there has been no comment so far from Pizza Hut or Papa John’s.
“The individual family dairy farms throughout the country – 47,000 of them – and the brands who buy and sell cheese are being painted in a horrible light due to the horrendous acts of a small group of individuals. A few sick people – whom we hope are prosecuted – do not represent the thousands of innocent people earning a living for their families, whether they work on farms, in cheese production, or in pizza shops.”
Is this shocking report of animal cruelty enough to stop you from ordering a pie from such pizza giants as Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s?
[image via Fitness2at ]