Horrific Abuse Uncovered at Family Dairy Farm

A recent investigation conducted by animal-rights group Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) at the Burnham Dairy Farm—a small, family-owned operation that supplies supermarket chain Publix—found horrific animal abuse and neglect. Footage gathered at the Florida facility by investigators revealed confused (and often injured) cows being whipped and beaten to get them into milking stations, and calves suffering in Florida’s sweltering heat and feces-ridden flood waters unprotected in open sheds (some in the same pen as already deceased calves). “The gaudy images of abuse recorded by the ARM undercover investigator and myself are horrific,” ARM founder and lead investigator Richard Couto said. “The long-term torture to both mother and calf at the Burnham dairy will now resonate throughout the world. We at ARM are hopeful that justice will prevail.” Randy Burnham, the farm’s owner, sits on the Board of Directors for industry union Florida Dairy Farmers and leads the Florida Dairy Farmers Scientific Advisory Panel—a committee that helps to set standards for the state’s dairy industry.