Horrific Video Lands Farm Worker in Jail

Billy Joe Gregg caught beating dairy cows with crowbars
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2010 12:40 PM CDT

An Ohio dairy farm worker was charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty yesterday, after an animal rights group released an undercover video showing him and other dairy workers viciously beating cows with crowbars and stabbing them with pitchforks. Billy Joe Gregg is currently in jail awaiting arraignment, and faces almost three years in prison if convicted on all counts, the AP reports.

His employer, Conklin Dairy Farms, says it is cooperating with authorities. “We will not condone animal abuse on our farm,” it said in a statement. But the video, which you can see at left if you have the stomach for it, purports to show farm owner Gary Conklin repeatedly kicking a cow. The sheriff's office says the investigation is ongoing; they're still pouring over the 20 hours of raw footage the group Mercy for Animals gave them. “We haven't even seen the YouTube video,” says one deputy. (More animal cruelty stories.)

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