Animal Abuse

I just finished watching the Mercy For Animals video depicting animal abuse on a Texas dairy farm, and was disgusted. This is by no means the norm in animal agriculture, and several questions were raised as the three minute video progressed.
First, if Mercy for Animals truly cared for animal welfare, why did they wait weeks, then release a video? Why didn't they immediately report the abuse to the proper officials, and end the abuse their undercover person/people witnessed? I know if I had seen some of those actions firsthand my immediate thought would have been making a positive change for those cattle, not producing a sensational video.
Second, as I just mentioned, what kind of Mercy for Animals person can stand there and participate in those actions? The one man with a video on him was speaking Spanish, and I wonder if he was paid off, or truly a member of this organization? Either way, if they were truly interested in the animal's welfare, there are a number of different actions that would have been far more beneficial to the actual animals than a video.
Third, the video ends with a solution - to practice vegetarianism, which will in no way end animal abuse. I would suggest a different solution - get to know farmers and ranchers and ask them questions. Learn about where your food comes from and the actual practices that are used by the vast majority of producers in the U.S. Go see them and their crops and livestock, I'm sure they would be happy to meet with you.
As a livestock producer it is extremely frustrating and sad to see these videos that are toted as common practices on farms and ranches. My family and every family I know put their animals first, regardless of weather, plans, events and other work. I encourage you to look at the entire picture and not take one sensational videos word for something - especially one where the so-called "merciful" people stood by, and possibly even participated in animal abuse simply to get footage.

You can find a number of ag-related links in this post that tell the true story of animal agriculture, and discuss the use of videos by animals welfare groups tell a false story about animal agriculture.

Crystal Cattle also did a post on this subject, and provided a number of links as well, you can check that out here.