Leaked messages and footage reveal deadly dairy farm cruelty
- An undercover investigation by Animal Equality found widespread cruelty at a dairy farm in Germany, including workers beating, kicking, shocking, and jabbing cows with a knife.
- Cows with bleeding, infected udders continued to be milked by machine, while calves were dragged away from their mothers shortly after birth.
- Leaked employee messages appear to show workers and a manager casually sharing images of dead and suffering animals.
- Meanwhile, internal records raise questions about discrepancies in reported calf deaths.
- The findings have since been reviewed by independent veterinarians. Criminal charges have been filed against farm workers and management.
Over several months in 2024 and 2025, the footage captured workers beating and kicking cows to force movement through the facility. Several animals, too weak to stand, were repeatedly shocked with electric prods by workers and the farm owner.
A worker who said he “hate[s] cows” was documented repeatedly striking them. Another worker was filmed jabbing cows in the legs with a knife to force them forward.
Workers watch as animals suffer
Cows with bleeding, infected udders continued to be milked by machine for weeks or even months. Elsewhere in the facility, cows showed lameness, infections, and other visible wounds. Despite these injuries, animals were forced to walk and lie on floors covered in waste.
Deathly ill animals were moved to a separate area, where they suffered without adequate veterinary care until they were sent to slaughter. One cow, identified as ‘7545,’ was found lying on the floor, eyes open and breathing labored. After hours of struggling, she died.
When animals died on the farm, employees photographed the bodies and shared the images in the farm’s group chat, where the deaths were discussed with apparent indifference.
Death records called into question
During the investigation, at least 48 cows died before slaughter, including mothers and newborn calves.
Internal records obtained by the investigator raise further questions. In one message, farm management reported 17 calf deaths in a single month, while internal records for the same period listed only two.
The footage also shows workers improving conditions shortly before scheduled inspections so the farm would meet certification standards.
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Separated, abandoned, and slaughtered
Many findings reflect practices common in the dairy industry. Calves were taken from their mothers shortly after birth, then dragged away by their front legs as their mothers tried to follow.
The calves were later pinned to the ground, their horn buds burned off without anesthesia.
Because they could not produce milk, male calves were typically slaughtered after a few months. Female calves were kept alone in calf hutches—even during freezing winter nights—before being raised for milk production.
Although cows can live for about 20 years, many in the dairy industry are slaughtered at around age five, after years of intensive milk production have worn down their bodies.
Experts say the conditions documented here are consistent with factory farming practices seen globally–including in the United States.
Independent veterinarians have since reviewed the findings, and criminal charges have been filed against farm workers and management.
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