Photos, license plate numbers and, in some cases, home addresses of the employees allegedly committing the acts were provided to the district attorney's office--literally doing their work for them. Yet charges have apparently not been filed, likely letting the perpetrators elude punishment. Hickerson did not answer whether the suspects had even been interviewed.
To reporters who cover charges of farm animal abuse, the West Coast Farms case reveals two confounding themes. One is the willingness of authorities to allow the same farm operators and regulators who permitted abuse to self-police. After the video surfaced, Lonnie Herring, West Coast Farms owner, told NBC he had "a renewed commitment to animal care" and planned to pay more attention to activity on the farm. "I can do better than this video shows and will do better in the future," he said.
"Self-policing" works so well that the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2008, "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has 7,800 pairs of eyes scrutinizing 6,200 slaughterhouses and food processors across the nation. But in the end, it took an undercover operation by an animal rights group to reveal that beef from ill and abused cattle had entered the human food supply." The Times was referring to downer dairy cattle rammed with forklift blades, electric shocked and "waterboarded" by employees to make them walk at Hallmark Meat Co.
The other confounding theme is outright contempt for animal abuse complaints themselves. After seeing the West Coast Farms images, Maxey Reilly, assistant district attorney for Okfuskee County, said "If I do decide this warrants more action, I will still mount an independent investigation. I don't want to be pressured into doing something that's not right." How could hitting sows with boards and bowling balls and gouging their eyes not "warrant more action?" Reilly said she needed to learn more about "industry standards." Who knows? Maybe they were acceptable practices!
The Oklahoma district attorneys are not alone in putting animal abuse last. After gruesome tail-docking and horn-burning at Willet Dairy in Cayuga County, NY was shown on Nightline, CNN and ABC in 2009, Assistant District Attorney Diane Adsit of the Cayuga County DA office reportedly said "who cares" when asked to bring charges--she had "human" cases to deal with.
Thanks to such attitudes, the West Coast Farms perpetrators may already be working at a new pork operation while the Creek County District Attorney's office seeks "additional information."
Have you read my cartoon-illustrated book on these topics ? Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the Public Health will make you laugh, cry and change your eating habits. It is available from Random House, at Barnes and Noble, as an ebook on Amazon and in most libraries. A great holiday gift.
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