EBAA Investigation Fuels California Dairy Lawsuit

Footage obtained for ALDF by East Bay Animal Advocates shows that baby calves at the Mendes operation are unable to lie down in a natural position or turn around without contorting themselves. It is clearly uncomfortable for them to move around on the slatted, often feces-covered floors of their confinement crates, and they struggle to reach out to each other through the breaks in the walls separating them from each other—as a result of being taken from their mothers at birth, their natural instinct to suckle and lick is totally thwarted. The facility sacrifices lawful treatment for efficiency—Mendes raises approximately 12,000 dairy calves from up to 80 different ranches for the first several months of their lives. The calves undergo a quick growth process in their time at Mendes—intended to prepare the animals for the harsh demands of the dairy industry.

In February 2005 & February 2006, East Bay Animal Advocates (on the web at http://www.insidedairyproduction.com) documented conditions at Mendes Calf Ranch in Tipton, California. Calf ranches are a growing feature of dairy production. Tulare County is the largest dairy producing county in the USA.

Co-plaintiffs in the case are two Stanford Law School students who have purchased and consumed dairy products over the past couple of years, including Challenge and Land O’ Lakes brands of butter, both of which can be traced to Mendes Calf Ranch. Both individual plaintiffs believed that they were paying market value for products made in accordance with California law; they are suing because of the harm they have suffered by paying for illegally-produced goods that they now know to have come from cows who have been cruelly raised in the process.

View EBAA's video footage of Mendes Calf Ranch via the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEBL4RVW_qI