Blasts Dairy Industry
Got
Milk? Got Hosed?
Getting
hosed is exactly what the dairy industry is feeling after the ABC News
Nightline aired a segment showing dairy cows being mistreated and abused.
In the “Disturbing Reality of Dairy Land” segment last week, the late-night news show indicated that what was found on a dairy in up-state New York is common practice elsewhere, including California where dairy cows have been made famous by the Got Milk and Happy Cows campaigns of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB).
No California dairies were shown and no California dairymen were interviewed. But the segment, nevertheless, began with California Happy Cows ad footage.
A portion of the five-minute broadcast was shown on the ABC Nightly news as well, but the network did not show the tail docking of a dairy cow that was one of the main components of its late night broadcast.
The feature by investigative journalist Brian Ross focused on “where your milk comes from.” It used mostly undercover video shot by members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“We were really disappointed and disturbed by the misrepresentation of the dairy industry,” said Jennifer Giambroni, director of Communications for the CMAB. She admitted the show displayed “unethical tactics” of one producer, but said in no way is that indicative of the industry as a whole.
“To portray unethical and illegal acts as a standard practice of an entire industry is harmful to the reputation of the dairy industry, harmful to consumers,” Giambroni said.
Michael Marsh, CEO of Western United Dairymen in Modesto, said the industry's worst fears were realized by the report. Dairy Management Inc. and other members of the dairy industry tried to serve as resources to ABC News in the hopes of encouraging a more factual report, but Marsh said that apparently did not work.
Prominent in the broadcast were PETA, Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty, Mercy for Animals and the Humane Society of the United States.
Prior to Tuesday night's broadcast, dairy industry officials took an ABC News producer and a camera crew to a farm in Pennsylvania so they could understand what happens on a dairy farm — and why, reported the National Milk Producers Federation.
Only about four seconds of that trip ended up on the broadcast, according to Chris Galen, vice president of communications for the Federation. The rest was taken at the New York dairy farm where an animal-rights organization had shot some undercover video. Galen told the AgriTalk radio network on Wednesday that the broadcast was biased toward the animal-rights point-of-view.
“Clearly, what they wanted to do was capitalize on the undercover video that was taken at a couple of different farms around the county,” including the one in New York state, Galen said.
“It just shows, again, that we have to put our best face forward,” he said. In an age where cell phone and other miniature recording devices are cheap and ubiquitous, he adds, “we can't afford any slip-ups and we can't excuse any behaviors that could be caught, as they were in this particular case, on camera that are going to make the industry look bad.”
Giambroni was especially unhappy with the tail docking portion of the report that includes State Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) who sponsored legislation signed into law last year outlawing the practice in California.
However, Giambroni said few California dairymen dock the tails of their cows. “Less than 6 percent of the state's dairies did tail docking before the law was signed. The report made it sound as if it was common practice.”
Marsh said the report hurts the dairy industry that he said does so much to ensure their cows are comfortable and healthy.
“We have done so much here in California to advance animal issues,” he said.”We continue to take care of the animals that take care of us.”
Both Marsh and Giambroni said they did not expect to get a fair shake from the newscast, with Giambroni saying the show expressed opinions from “anti-agriculture people.”
She added that people can get the other side of the story on the CMAB's web site, where they are featuring dairy families and their dairies. “We're encouraging our producers to share their stories and encouraging consumers to keep their minds open.” That web site is realcaliforniamilk.com.
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