FAKE OUTRAGE: Farm at center of goat cruelty scandal may have to close, as more supermarkets pull products
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were continuing to sell the St Helen’s Farm brand dairy products (milk, cheese and butter) in three south London supermarkets.
COLIN DRURY: The farm at the centre of a horrific goat cruelty scandal… may have to be shut down, its owner has said. Animals were secretly filmed being punched, kicked and slammed on their back at Far Marsh Farm, near Hull in East Yorkshire.
Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer all said they would immediately drop St Helen’s Farm dairy products – which are made using milk produced at Far Marsh – after being alerted to the brutality on Monday. On Tuesday, Ocado did likewise… But Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were continuing to sell the brand’s milk, cheese and butter in three south London supermarkets…
Now, Angus Wielkopolski, founder of Yorkshire Dairy Goats which owns the farm, has told The Independent he is disgusted by what he saw in the video and says he is facing having to close the 4,000-animal site if he cannot salvage its reputation…
“We are totally shocked and disgusted by what we have seen on that video,” Mr Wielkopolski said. “We are horrified. We had no idea this was going on… Three out of its 10 staff have already been dismissed for gross misconduct while a fourth has been placed on an immediate final written warning…
Ed Winters, co-founder and director of Surge, the animal rights group which first exposed the footage, said: “Goats are sensitive, curious and gentle animals, but the animal-farming industries treat them as commodities they can exploit for profit…
About an hour’s worth of video was passed to the group. In it, goats at Far Marsh – which is between the villages of Keyingham and Ottringham – were seen being kicked and punched, beaten with a pole, held by the throat and having their tails twisted…
“St Helen’s say on their website the milk is a reward for looking after the goats and that their staff have a genuine interest and love for the animals. But it is obvious that the opposite is true at one of their supplying farms”. SOURCE…
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