Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / UnchainedTV: Another "Fairlife" Milk Animal Cruelty Scandal Erupts!

Transcript

UnchainedTV: Another "Fairlife" Milk Animal Cruelty Scandal Erupts! · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:00
We are live with breaking news, disturbing news,
0:04
we've got to warn you.
0:05
This is, I have no words to be
0:09
honest with you.
0:11
Another shocker, a shocking new animal cruelty scandal
0:14
has erupted involving milk suppliers to Fairlife, a
0:18
billion dollar milk brand owned by Coca-Cola,
0:22
sparking calls for a boycott.
0:24
Animal Recovery Mission, Arm, has released gut wrenching
0:28
footage from two Arizona dairy farms supplying milk
0:31
to Fairlife.
0:33
A six month Arm investigation found egregious and
0:36
frequent animal cruelty with animals being hit, animals
0:41
being dragged, animals being whipped, animals being shot,
0:45
animals being shoved, animals being force-fed, and
0:49
animals being chained at two Arizona farms.
0:54
The video is gut-wrenching.
0:59
I'm actually trying to process it as a
1:04
human being.
1:06
I can just say that watching this video
1:08
made me cry and it made me embarrassed
1:10
to be a member of the human race.
1:12
We are here with Kudo, the founder of
1:16
Animal Recovery Mission, who has made it his
1:19
life work to expose animal cruelty.
1:23
Kudo, first of all, kudos on this investigation.
1:27
Tell us, we don't want to get into
1:30
the names of the farms and the names
1:35
of the families.
1:36
It's Fairlife, it's Coca-Cola, we're going to
1:38
read their statements in a second, but just
1:41
tell us the first farm, which is the
1:43
video that we saw there.
1:45
Describe what you found and how you found
1:48
it.
1:50
Yeah, well, we've done undercover investigations on Coca
1:54
-Cola on Fairlife since 2019.
1:56
This is actually our seventh and eighth case.
1:59
But this is a new plant for Coca
2:01
-Cola in the greater Arizona area, in the
2:03
Phoenix zone of the state.
2:06
We wanted to see if the crimes were
2:08
as upper level as they were in Texas
2:12
and in Indiana and other parts of the
2:14
country.
2:17
A lot of stipulations have been in place
2:24
since our 2019 investigation to make animal cruelty
2:29
within the Fairlife and Coca-Cola corporations, quote
2:33
-unquote, impossible.
2:35
Okay, I can't hear you.
2:37
We can't hear you.
2:38
We can't hear you.
2:39
You're breaking up.
2:40
Actually affected probably the animals they're supplying animals
2:45
were worse crimes we found in 2019.
2:50
Yeah, well, I'm so sorry to tell you
2:53
this.
2:54
We're having trouble- And that $35 million
2:55
were invested by Coke and Fairlife to, quote
2:59
-unquote, bury the lives of the dairy cows
3:02
within their supplying dairies.
3:05
The cruelty was eight of 10, out of
3:10
one in 10.
3:12
We're seeing felony, we're talking- Okay.
3:19
At that particular farm.
3:21
Yeah.
3:22
We're having trouble hearing you, by the way.
3:24
I want to go to Shannon Keith.
3:28
Shannon Blair.
3:29
Shannon, you've been following this for a long
3:33
time.
3:34
What was your emotional reaction to the footage
3:38
as it came up?
3:41
Shane, I can barely watch this footage.
3:43
I've been to so many places of violence
3:46
and slaughterhouses, and when I first saw this,
3:49
I couldn't get through it.
3:51
I had a physical reaction and was being
3:54
vocal because it was...
3:56
They just pulled a fully conscious female cow
4:01
over an eight-foot concrete wall by a
4:04
chain around her neck.
4:06
This is really difficult for anyone who has
4:10
any type of feelings for other individuals to
4:13
watch.
4:13
It's sickening.
4:16
And you have a son.
4:20
What was his reaction?
4:21
I know we're going to hear from him
4:22
later.
4:23
So we have, like you said, we've been
4:26
following this for a long time, for over
4:28
five years now.
4:29
When this first was released in 2019, we
4:32
were horrified.
4:33
We had found out a few years earlier
4:36
about the inherent cruelty of the dairy industry,
4:39
but what we saw in the 2019 investigations
4:43
was above that inherent cruelty.
4:46
It was above and beyond anything that I
4:48
could have possibly imagined.
4:50
And now seeing this after what we had
4:54
seen in the past, and then Coca-Cola
4:57
saying that they were going to make sure
4:59
that nothing like this had ever happened again,
5:01
and they've put $40 million now since 2019
5:05
into animal welfare standards.
5:07
So now to see these investigations come out
5:10
of 2024 investigations, I can't even believe it.
5:14
I mean, this is a huge corporation.
5:17
They say that they have audits happening constantly,
5:21
third-party audits and their own audits.
5:23
And I mean, how could this happen?
5:28
My son was horrified.
5:29
He's been speaking out against it since it
5:31
happened.
5:32
Everywhere we go, we've been telling people about
5:34
it.
5:35
Okay.
5:36
I think we have Kudo back.
5:38
I want to read some of the statements
5:42
that Fairlife has made.
5:45
We invite them on at any time to
5:47
respond, but let's talk about the history of
5:53
this and their responses.
5:55
So first of all, there was an investigation,
5:59
an undercover investigation conducted by you Kudo in
6:02
2019.
6:04
It was released in 2019.
6:07
And at that time, they said they were
6:10
going to change.
6:12
And then subsequently Coca-Cola bought Fairlife completely.
6:17
So now Fairlife is completely owned by Coca
6:20
-Cola.
6:20
Correct me if I'm any mistakes.
6:22
This is the statement that Fairlife gave in
6:28
response to this most recent undercover investigation of
6:34
yours.
6:34
Let me read it and then hopefully get
6:36
your response.
6:38
Fairlife's response, we have zero tolerance for animal
6:41
abuse and the supplier has suspended delivery of
6:45
milk from these facilities.
6:47
Fairlife does not own farms or cows and
6:49
requires suppliers to follow stringent animal welfare standards.
6:54
Your response to that.
6:56
Again, they say they have suspended delivery of
7:01
milk from these facilities.
7:02
Your response, Kudo.
7:04
Well, that's a pretty weak response from Fairlife.
7:09
Suspending doesn't terminate, right?
7:11
So they are planning on going back to
7:13
that supplier.
7:14
I would say very quickly.
7:16
They possibly already have.
7:22
They're being very, very careful with their language
7:25
because now they know they are abusers and
7:29
have gone into an industry that is cruelty
7:33
by nature.
7:34
There's no possible way to have, unfortunately, a
7:39
cow dairy producing humane certified milk.
7:44
It's just an impossibility.
7:45
They now know that and they also now
7:47
know that the animal recovery mission has their
7:50
number, right?
7:51
We know how to get undercover now in
7:53
any of their facilities at any time.
7:55
So they know that we are going to
7:57
hammer them on a yearly basis and expose
8:00
them.
8:02
And whatever they do, whatever new policy they
8:08
put in place for animal welfare, it's not
8:10
going to work.
8:11
And I think we showed that within this
8:14
Arizona investigation.
8:17
So I want to read a little bit
8:19
more.
8:19
And again, Fairlife is invited on at any
8:23
time.
8:24
We would love to get their response, further
8:27
response.
8:27
We would love to talk to representatives from
8:31
Coca-Cola and we want to really show
8:36
what their response to this situation is.
8:39
So let me read a couple more statements
8:43
that I got right off the Fairlife website.
8:48
Here is the one that's been quoted most.
8:51
We believe in better care for animals.
8:54
Caring for animals is a top priority at
8:56
Fairlife.
8:56
It all begins with strong relationships with supplying
8:59
farms.
9:00
Our robust animal welfare programme is led by
9:03
a full on-staff veterinarian and combines industry
9:07
-leading standards with regular audits, strong oversight, and
9:12
the expertise of a third-party animal advisory
9:15
council consisting of leading experts in the dairy
9:20
industry.
9:21
Let's go continue.
9:22
It doesn't end there.
9:23
Animal Welfare Advisory Council.
9:26
Fairlife's Animal Welfare Advisory Council consists of six
9:30
of the top experts in the dairy and
9:32
animal health industry.
9:33
Together, this group works with Fairlife to review
9:36
ongoing animal welfare programmes and guide advancement and
9:40
improvement to our animal welfare programme based on
9:44
new research and learnings.
9:46
Industry-leading animal welfare standards.
9:49
Our goal is that all cows and calves
9:50
are provided with the best care possible.
9:53
As a dairy processor that doesn't own farms
9:56
or cows, we rely on the partnership of
9:58
industry experts, advisors, and our network of supplying
10:02
farms to help us achieve this goal.
10:04
We are committed to continuously evaluating our animal
10:09
welfare programme.
10:10
That is their statement.
10:13
Now, what I would like to do is
10:15
play the video of your undercover investigation with
10:24
sound.
10:26
That's the statement of Fairlife.
10:28
Here is the undercover investigation that you did,
10:31
what, 2024, just a few months ago.
10:36
By the way, those statements remain on their
10:39
website right now.
10:42
Okay.
11:01
Top managers are using heavy machinery and electrocuting
11:04
sick and in-labour mothers.
11:13
In the milking parlour, mothers are beaten and
11:18
whipped into the milking parlours.
11:26
As punishment, their tails are snapped and broken
11:29
in half.
11:34
Fairlife calves are beaten, punched, dragged, whipped, then
11:37
violently thrown into animal transports.
11:44
In record numbers, dairy cows and cows are
11:47
dying from abuse and neglect.
11:51
So, let's go to Shannon first.
11:53
You saw the statements from Fairlife, and again,
11:56
we invite Fairlife and Coca-Cola on anytime,
11:58
and then there's the video.
12:00
What do you make of the discrepancy?
12:03
I mean, it's a complete, it's fraudulent.
12:05
It's a complete act.
12:07
Nothing about it is real.
12:10
They have to know because the dairy industry
12:12
is inherently cruel, and then this is happening
12:15
during every single investigation.
12:18
So, it's obviously not isolated, and it's just
12:22
laughable.
12:23
The fact that they can feel okay with
12:26
the name of the company and then putting
12:28
those statements on the website, and like you
12:31
said, they're still up there.
12:32
It's unreal.
12:33
They have no shame, and the fact that
12:36
the mainstream media is not covering this is
12:38
really, really disturbing.
12:42
Yeah, we're getting a lot of comments, but
12:45
as outraged as people are, Shannon, this remains
12:51
perhaps the most successful milk company in the
12:54
United States, according to a food dive.
12:59
In 2024, Fairlife was the leading white milk
13:02
brand in the United States, and they're apparently
13:06
planning on opening a $650 million facility.
13:11
Coca-Cola is expected to open a $650
13:14
million facility in New York that will serve
13:17
as Fairlife's flagship northeast location.
13:20
So, they're not backing down and saying, yeah,
13:25
dairy is inherently cruel.
13:27
We're going to switch to plant-based, which
13:29
could be done, and that's the obvious solution,
13:33
whereas dairy is inherently cruel because you have
13:36
to separate the mother and the baby, and
13:38
they don't want to be separated, and whereas
13:42
this is a dairy product, wherefore do the
13:47
same exact thing with plant-based milk, soy
13:48
milk, rice milk, hemp milk, almond milk, oat
13:51
milk, the many, many milks that exist today.
13:57
There has been so much outrage from people
14:03
around the world over this latest scandal, is
14:08
what I'd have to call it.
14:10
Let's play some clips that are on social
14:12
media.
14:13
This is CSI actress Lena Esko reacting.
14:23
In 2019, Animal Recovery Mission exposed Fairlife, owned
14:27
by Coca-Cola, for their horrific animal abuse.
14:31
Fairlife promised change.
14:33
They lied.
14:34
Arm just went undercover again, this time at
14:37
dairy farms in Phoenix, Arizona, where milk is
14:40
produced for Fairlife and Coca-Cola.
14:42
Not only has nothing improved, but the torture
14:45
has gotten worse.
14:46
Please go to animalrecoverymission.org and sign the
14:50
petition.
14:51
Call and email the sheriff's office and Fairlife
14:53
and demand justice now.
15:06
So that last shot, Richard, you're saying that
15:10
they dragged a cow over a fence by
15:14
the neck.
15:17
Describe that, because that was one of the
15:19
ones that really just shook me to my
15:22
core.
15:23
Yeah, that was about an hour and a
15:27
half worth of torture on that mother she
15:29
was in labour in the milking parlour, and
15:32
she couldn't walk because she was giving birth.
15:36
They wanted her out of the milking parlour,
15:38
so they dragged her across a slick floor
15:43
by the neck, they chained her by the
15:45
neck, and then elevated her by the neck
15:48
over an eight-foot wall.
15:50
They tortured her for about an hour after
15:52
that, and then they shot her inhumanely in
15:54
the back of the neck a few times
15:56
and just let her lay.
15:58
It took her a few hours, actually, to
15:59
die, but that's very common in your Fairlife
16:03
and Coca-Cola supplying dairies.
16:06
It's what we saw in that facility time
16:09
and time again, almost on a daily basis.
16:11
It's just how they treated their animals.
16:14
It's almost like policy at the Fairlife supplying
16:18
dairies at this point.
16:20
You know, the comments are people just expressing
16:26
outrage, people who are watching this show on
16:29
Facebook.
16:31
I wonder if there's any perception, I mean,
16:36
if the brand is growing, is that their
16:40
criteria?
16:42
Again, Coca-Cola and Fairlife on any time.
16:46
I am emotionally devastated by having to edit
16:51
this video.
16:52
I don't even know how you edited the
16:54
whole thing.
16:54
I had to just take your clips, and
16:57
my dogs, because I didn't have headsets on,
17:00
were very agitated because they were hearing the
17:03
moaning of the cows.
17:04
I literally feel like I just can't even
17:12
process that this is happening for a second,
17:17
a second once, a second once.
17:21
What does that say about our culture?
17:25
What does that say about humanity as a
17:28
species?
17:30
What does that say about our values?
17:34
That this is the number one, according to
17:37
Food Dive, 2014, it was the leading white
17:41
milk brand in the US.
17:44
Now, I'm not the only one who's had
17:47
these reactions.
17:48
We're just going to play a couple of
17:50
clips from social media stars, up-and-comers.
17:56
We have an attorney.
17:58
She is Angela Kim, and she's a social
18:02
media attorney.
18:03
She made this video and posted it.
18:05
A new class action lawsuit was just filed
18:08
against Coca-Cola for their brand Fairlife.
18:10
The allegations are again for false advertising, and
18:13
they boil down to the same issue.
18:14
So rule of thumb, if a company tells
18:16
you something about the product, it really has
18:19
to be true, especially if it's a premium
18:21
product that charges higher prices based on whatever
18:23
they're telling you.
18:24
Fairlife markets, based on giving their cows a
18:27
fair life, explicitly says in their materials that
18:29
they take better care of the animals that
18:31
provide us milk.
18:32
But this lawsuit is based on a 2024
18:34
investigation by ARM, Animal Recovery Mission, and the
18:37
pictures made me cry.
18:38
I won't share them with you.
18:40
They show horrifying abuse of cows that's applied
18:42
to Fairlife, frequent flogging, beating, being trampled to
18:45
death, denial of veterinary care, newborn cows being
18:47
left to die.
18:48
The allegations are that not only do they
18:50
not provide a better life for their cows,
18:52
they actually violate the industry standard of care,
18:54
allegedly qualifying as even criminal animal cruelty.
18:57
So class action settlements are not just about
18:59
money.
19:00
They also require the company to right whatever
19:02
wrong was alleged in the first place, which
19:04
means they either change their advertising promise, frankly
19:06
they should change their name at this point,
19:08
or improve their treatment of cows to a
19:10
standard of care that is consistent with what
19:11
they promised.
19:12
Seemingly has not happened here.
19:14
I will keep you posted.
19:15
All right.
19:17
Thank you, Angela Kim.
19:18
That is just one.
19:19
There were many, many examples of people talking
19:23
about this, and she said it made her
19:24
cry.
19:26
I just felt so disoriented.
19:32
How can this be happening?
19:33
Now, look, let me just say this.
19:36
I have several of these.
19:38
I know exactly what's happening inside my home
19:40
when I walk out the door.
19:43
I also have a Furbo, which is a
19:45
great product that actually follows my dogs, and
19:48
I can hear it too.
19:49
If they bark, I hear it.
19:51
Now, these statements, this is what I want
19:54
to get into.
19:55
These statements that they spent something like $30
20:00
million, according to Food Dive, in its annual
20:03
stewardship report released in April, Fairlife said it
20:06
had invested, along with its suppliers, nearly $30
20:09
million in its animal welfare programme.
20:14
Again, we showed the statements.
20:17
I want to be very fair and show
20:20
exactly what Fairlife is saying and Coca-Cola
20:23
is saying.
20:24
It also noted that its supplier farms undergo
20:28
regular third-party audits, ensuring the highest levels
20:30
of animal care and the highest quality products,
20:34
end quote, the highest level of animal care.
20:38
And you have a video of a cow
20:41
being dragged by the neck over a wall
20:43
and tails being broken and floggings.
20:49
Now, this is a very cheap item.
20:52
I have several of them.
20:55
I can see, and there's plenty of them
20:58
where you can hear and everything else, okay?
21:03
It doesn't add up, $30 million, and that's
21:07
happening not once.
21:09
But, Kudo, are you saying that this was
21:12
regular standard operating procedure, and was it just
21:16
low-level employees?
21:19
No, this was the top-level management, right
21:22
under the owners.
21:24
The cameras that you held up, they had
21:26
cameras throughout the dairy.
21:29
They adhered to all of the policies put
21:32
in place, forced by Coca-Cola and Fairlife.
21:37
But it just goes to show you that
21:39
in the dairy industry, in the dairy environment,
21:42
in a farm-like setting, in a dairy,
21:46
cruelty is just everywhere, and it is impossible
21:49
to steer away from it.
21:51
Part of the problem is, with those cameras,
21:53
the same people that were doing the abusing
21:55
on a felony level, killing the animals inhumanely,
21:59
were the same ones that were monitoring those
22:02
camera systems, right?
22:03
They were the people that were conducting the
22:06
training for the new higher, lower-tier dairy
22:11
worker.
22:14
So, I will say that whatever Fairlife and
22:20
Coca-Cola do for the future, it will
22:24
not change the abuse in any of their
22:27
supplying dairies, and I will put anything I
22:31
have on that statement, that whatever dairy that
22:35
the Animal Recovery Mission goes undercover in the
22:38
future at Fairlife, and we're going to do
22:40
it again, and I know the Fairlife and
22:43
Coca-Cola attorneys are watching this, but we
22:46
have your number.
22:48
So, we'll be back, and the same type
22:50
of is going to be shown again, over
22:53
and over and over.
22:54
Why?
22:55
Well, because it's the dairy industry.
22:57
Right.
22:57
That's your prediction, and I would invite anybody
23:01
from Coca-Cola and Fairlife, I would love
23:04
to dialogue with you.
23:07
Is there a win-win out of this
23:09
situation, when we're in the 21st century, and
23:13
we have soy milk, oat milk, almond milk,
23:15
rice milk, hemp milk, cashew milk, all of
23:20
these different kinds of milks, what is stopping,
23:23
and by the way, zero-cholesterol milks, when
23:26
they're plant-based, what is stopping a transition
23:29
to something, if indeed, Rich Kudo is correct,
23:34
and again, those are his allegations, and we
23:36
would invite you on any time, if indeed,
23:39
his allegations are correct, that there's basically no
23:42
nice way to, on a large scale, take
23:48
milk from mother cows and feed that to
23:52
people while removing the calves, because otherwise they
23:56
would drink the milk that nature intended for
23:58
them.
23:58
If there's no nice way to do that,
24:01
why do it?
24:01
Why not switch?
24:02
It's the 21st century.
24:04
This is a question that I put out
24:06
to whoever is watching this from the industry.
24:15
We invite anybody from the industry on any
24:17
time.
24:18
We would love to dialogue with you, and
24:20
again, we are showing the statements that you
24:24
have issued publicly and that are still on
24:26
your website, so I see that we have
24:30
a young social media influencer who's known as
24:32
Vegan Evan, the son of Shannon Blair here.
24:38
Hi, Vegan Evan.
24:39
Hello.
24:40
I just want to get your emotional reaction
24:43
as, how old are you now?
24:44
I'm 14.
24:46
Okay, and come up and speak up, please,
24:48
my dear.
24:49
What was your emotional reaction to seeing the
24:53
video?
24:54
I mean, I've seen plenty of videos of
24:57
footage from the dairy industry, which is always
25:00
cruel.
25:01
The dairy industry is inherently cruel, and this
25:05
just being a step further, while they have
25:08
so many statements about how great their care
25:11
for these animals is, it's very appalling and
25:15
disturbing, and these animals, they want to have
25:22
a happy life just like we do.
25:25
They want to be safe, not abused and
25:28
tortured and having their babies ripped away from
25:30
them, and it's just so gross when you
25:34
think about it.
25:35
We're not made to be drinking another species
25:38
milk made for their babies.
25:41
As infants, we're supposed to drink our mother's
25:44
milk, just like every other mammal.
25:47
These mother cows have to carry their babies
25:50
for about nine months, about the same as
25:52
a human, and when they give birth, pretty
25:56
much right away, the baby is taken away
25:58
from them, just so humans can steal the
26:01
milk, and when they can't make milk anymore
26:04
or not as much that's not as profitable,
26:07
they're discarded like trash, and they're treated as
26:10
commodities when they're sentient beings.
26:13
Coca-Cola, as far as I see it,
26:15
does not belong in the dairy industry, and
26:17
if they do feel like they belong in
26:19
the dairy industry, they need to transition to
26:22
plant-based milks and alternatives.
26:26
Very well said from a 14-year-old
26:30
who sounds like you could be running for
26:32
public office, and I know there have been
26:35
protests outside Fair Life headquarters.
26:39
I want to play some clips of Vegan
26:42
Evan speaking there, as well as his mother.
26:46
You guys, this was not so long ago.
26:48
This was very recent when Vegan Evan spoke,
26:53
and I believe this was Chicago, and it
26:57
needs to stop, especially under Coca-Cola.
27:00
Coca-Cola has no business in the dairy
27:01
industry.
27:02
Coca-Cola makes great drinks that taste great,
27:05
that don't require a race to exist.
27:08
This is awful.
27:09
This is unnecessary.
27:11
It's violent.
27:12
It's cruel, and we need Coca-Cola to
27:14
cut ties with the dairy industry or switch
27:17
to plant-based milks, because that's what the
27:19
future is.
27:21
It's their bodies!
27:22
Their lives!
27:25
Their babies!
27:28
They don't want to live!
27:30
Just like us!
27:31
They want to be free!
27:32
Just like us!
27:33
They don't want to be physically impregnated!
27:36
Just like us!
27:38
They don't want to have their babies ripped
27:39
away from them!
27:40
Just like us!
27:41
The babies don't want to be ripped away
27:43
from their mothers!
27:43
Just like us!
27:45
Within seconds of birth, they do not want
27:47
to be ripped away from their mothers!
27:49
Just like us!
27:52
So, Richard, you were there at that protest,
27:56
as well.
27:57
Did you get the sense that it was
27:58
having any impact?
28:00
Did any executives see this coming in and
28:02
out?
28:02
I saw the big Fair Life sign there.
28:05
Yeah, I think the Fair Life executives now
28:07
are just burying their heads, locking themselves in
28:10
closets, when something like this transpires.
28:12
When we go public with another investigation, their
28:16
policy now is to not comment.
28:19
And in part, what that's doing is lessening
28:24
the negative press on their new label, Fair
28:29
Life Milk.
28:30
But they're just not coming out of their
28:32
buildings.
28:33
And they're hoping and praying that this subsides
28:37
very, very quickly and things go back to
28:40
normal.
28:41
And that is the problem.
28:45
I mean, part of the reason why some
28:47
of the larger networks haven't run negative stories,
28:49
well, the truth behind the Fair Life scandal
28:53
is because Coca-Cola is the sixth largest
28:56
corporation on planet Earth.
28:58
They spend a lot on advertising, and they're
29:00
using that and putting it over some of
29:03
the larger networks, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News.
29:06
But I have to jump in here and
29:10
say, this is your opinion.
29:13
I was in the mainstream media for many
29:15
years.
29:15
And I agree, advertiser-based media, advertised-based
29:19
media, anybody who's on a major network, all
29:25
you have to do is see the commercials
29:26
to understand that ultimately, the commercials keep the
29:29
lights on.
29:30
But we certainly can't make accusations against specific
29:33
networks.
29:35
So I'm gonna stop you right there.
29:37
But I wanna get back to what Shannon
29:39
Blair said.
29:42
And you also attended that demonstration.
29:45
So let's hear you and the speech you
29:48
gave, and then talk a little bit about
29:49
what you observed and what the reaction has
29:53
been in your opinion.
29:56
I have three children, three beautiful babies who
30:02
are my entire world.
30:04
My oldest is here with me today.
30:08
I could never imagine having my babies ripped
30:15
away from me and not being able to
30:18
do anything about it.
30:20
I've been to so many dairy farms.
30:22
They're the worst places on this planet.
30:28
Female animals are held captive against their will
30:31
and forcibly impregnated over and over again.
30:36
Each time they carry their baby for nine
30:38
months, just like a human female.
30:41
The day that their precious baby is born,
30:44
he or she is violently ripped away from
30:46
their mother so that we can steal her
30:49
breast milk.
30:51
The dairy industry is inherently cruel.
30:55
The dairy industry rips babies away from their
30:58
mothers and steals their breast milk.
31:00
That is what it is.
31:02
But what we've seen in these three undercover
31:07
investigations is far beyond that inherent cruelty.
31:15
This is the most horrific abuse in the
31:18
history of the dairy industry caught on film
31:21
in the United States.
31:23
They're all connected to Coca-Cola's unfair life
31:30
plan.
31:32
This is so shameful, and we cannot let
31:35
them get away with this again.
31:40
Wow.
31:42
Wow.
31:42
Again, I invite any industry executive, whether it's
31:48
the suppliers, whether it's Coca-Cola, whether it's
31:51
Fair Life, I invite you on.
31:55
I want to dialogue with you because anything
32:01
I could do, anything I could do as
32:03
a human being to not have to go
32:06
through just what I went through watching this
32:09
and just watching it to upload it so
32:13
that we could show clips.
32:15
I'm shaken.
32:16
I am shaken today.
32:17
I've been a reporter for more than 30
32:19
years.
32:19
I've covered some of the most horrific crimes
32:21
in the last 30 plus years.
32:26
I'm shaken.
32:28
I've cried.
32:29
And I don't, I'm beyond just, it's not
32:34
anger.
32:34
It's just, what is a human being?
32:40
What is humanity?
32:43
Why?
32:44
Why?
32:45
Why?
32:46
Why?
32:48
Is there anything worth this?
32:51
Anything?
32:51
Anything?
32:54
If there's anything worth this, please let me
32:59
know because I can't imagine what could be
33:02
worth this.
33:04
So I think I'm not the only one
33:07
having a shaken reaction to these videos.
33:11
You've heard from Shannon Blair.
33:14
You've heard from the attorney, Angela Kim.
33:18
You've heard from the CSI actress, and she's
33:21
been in a lot of other films, Lena
33:23
Esco.
33:24
And Switch for Good is also a very,
33:28
very active organisation that has come out with
33:34
statements about this.
33:35
And I'm looking for their statement that we
33:38
might be able to play that because here
33:41
it is.
33:42
They also actually issued a trigger warning on
33:46
this video.
33:47
Hey, everyone.
33:47
We have something really important that we want
33:49
to talk to you about today, but I
33:50
have to give you a trigger warning ahead
33:52
of time as it's disturbing to watch.
33:53
Last month, Animal Recovery Mission exposed horrific animal
33:57
cruelty and environmental violations at two major suppliers
34:00
of Coca-Cola's Fairlife milk outside of Phoenix,
34:03
Arizona.
34:03
Cows were kicked, whipped, dying of dehydration in
34:06
135 degree heat and left to die in
34:09
horrendous conditions.
34:10
Milk is cruel to cows and it is
34:12
cruel to the human body.
34:13
Despite Fairlife and Coca-Cola's claims of humane
34:16
sourcing, Animal Recovery Mission's investigation proves the corporation's
34:20
complicity in severe abuse.
34:22
Please support Switch for Good's ongoing efforts to
34:25
wean the world off dairy for the cows,
34:27
for human health, for the planet, and for
34:28
food justice.
34:29
This is why we do what we do
34:31
at Switch for Good.
34:34
That last kind shot, I don't know who
34:37
that was, but that wasn't part of the
34:39
undercover video.
34:41
So where do we go from here?
34:44
There's a number of developments that I'd like
34:46
to discuss.
34:47
And one of them is the class action
34:50
lawsuit.
34:51
And as I understand it, not being a
34:53
lawyer, at this point it is a proposed
34:56
class action lawsuit.
34:59
So it was filed in connection with the
35:02
release of this undercover video.
35:04
And it says here, a class action complaint
35:07
for damages, restitution, and injunctive relief for violation
35:11
of breach of express warrants, false advertising, unfair
35:15
competition, consumer legal remedies act, and unjust enrichment,
35:21
et cetera.
35:22
And this is a quote from within that
35:25
lawsuit, which runs many, many, many, many pages.
35:29
It says, animal care and sustainability marketing scheme
35:34
and practise are based on materially face false
35:37
misleading, untrue, and or unjust claims and omissions.
35:43
Video evidence from multiple undercover investigations conducted by
35:46
Animal Recovery Mission arm reveals systemic widespread egregious
35:50
animal cruelty, cruel standard practises, extreme neglect, including
35:54
at the hands of an awareness and with
35:56
the awareness of management.
35:58
So tell us about this proposed lawsuit, Kudo,
36:02
where does it stand?
36:04
And it's filing in conjunction with the release
36:07
of your undercover video.
36:09
Yeah, well, that was filed, I believe the
36:11
day that we exposed and had our press
36:14
conference in Phoenix.
36:16
So we're at the beginning stages of this
36:19
lawsuit.
36:20
It took a while for this to be
36:22
put together by a host of incredible attorneys,
36:25
some of the better attorneys in the country,
36:27
working side by side with the best animal
36:30
welfare attorneys.
36:32
But everyone needs to understand that there are
36:35
a host of lawsuits other than this class
36:37
action that have just been filed and that
36:40
are being filed within the incoming weeks.
36:43
And I don't want to give Coca-Cola
36:44
too great of a heads up on that.
36:47
So I can't go into detail.
36:48
But things are coming down the pipeline legally
36:50
for them that hopefully are going to hurt
36:55
this company and force them to recognise and
37:00
admit to their shortcomings and what really goes
37:04
on behind closed doors because they haven't done
37:07
that yet.
37:09
So what I find interesting about all this
37:12
is that this isn't the first class action
37:15
suit.
37:16
Now, when you did your 2019 investigation, there
37:23
was a class action suit that was filed
37:27
that ultimately resulted, I believe in 2022, in
37:31
a $21 million settlement.
37:37
Can you tell me elaborate on that?
37:40
So there's already $21 million that has been
37:43
paid reportedly as part of a settlement that
37:47
emanated from your previous investigation released in 2019.
37:54
And now there's a new proposed class action
37:57
suit.
37:57
And the reason I say proposed is that
37:59
an attorney told me until the courts take
38:01
it to a certain level, it's a proposed
38:03
class action.
38:04
So tell us about that, the previous one.
38:08
Yeah, well, Coca-Cola did have to pay
38:10
out $21 million from the first class action
38:12
lawsuit stemming from our investigation in 2019.
38:15
But they also had to adhere in that
38:18
lawsuit, overseen and signed off by a judge
38:21
to a lot of changes in their policies.
38:24
And some of them you've already gone over
38:26
cameras, you know, in their supplying barns and
38:30
new veterinary care, so on and so forth.
38:33
Also, they cannot harvest dairy, their product from
38:38
a dairy farm that's cruel to their animals.
38:42
That is specifically said in the first class
38:45
action.
38:45
So they violated, right now they have violated
38:48
their class action lawsuit from 2019.
38:51
That right now is being looked over by
38:53
a judge, I believe out of Illinois and
38:57
or Michigan.
38:58
So that's an open investigation right now.
39:01
And Fairlife and Coca-Cola could be looking
39:03
at a huge number in fines from that
39:07
alone.
39:08
Okay, thank you, Kudo.
39:09
And again, that's Kudo's explanation.
39:12
I will continue to invite Coca-Cola and
39:15
Fairlife officials, anybody connected with the industry on
39:18
at any time to further elaborate.
39:22
Although we have placed on camera a lot
39:25
of your statements from your website that are
39:29
up there right now.
39:31
I got these the night before.
39:33
Okay, so these haven't been taken down.
39:37
These are up there right now.
39:39
We believe in better care for animals.
39:40
So if we took you at your word,
39:43
then if you believe in better care for
39:45
animals, what would be the ultimate way to
39:48
ensuring better care for animals while obviously not
39:50
using them?
39:51
And in today's 21st century, we have plant
39:56
-based milks.
39:57
Ultimately, this is a consumer issue.
40:01
Is it not, Shannon Blair?
40:03
It is.
40:04
And Jane, earlier, you said, what does this
40:06
say about our culture?
40:07
What does this say about us?
40:09
And I think that for a second, but
40:11
then I think about how manipulative this is
40:13
with just the name Fairlife.
40:15
And it does show that the consumers, they
40:17
want to do better.
40:19
So this name pulls at their heartstrings.
40:21
But once people really see the inherent cruelty
40:24
in this industry, and they're going to, because
40:27
we have the power of social media and
40:30
we have the truth on our side, people
40:32
are going to wake up to the reality
40:33
of the situation that there is no right
40:36
way to do the wrong thing.
40:38
Coca-Cola, like vegan Evan, my son said,
40:41
needs to stop telling people that there's a
40:44
right way to do the wrong thing by
40:45
having their hands in this industry.
40:49
And it is a consumer issue.
40:52
We all need to realise that it's not
40:55
just Fairlife.
40:56
It's the dairy industry and it's all animal
40:58
ag.
40:59
There's no good way to do something to
41:02
an animal that doesn't have to be done
41:05
to them when it causes them any type
41:07
of suffering.
41:08
We don't need to be using them.
41:10
And when we do, it's hurting all of
41:13
us in addition to what it's doing to
41:15
them and their children.
41:17
It's affecting our health.
41:19
It's affecting the planet that we all share.
41:22
I just had two babies in the last
41:25
three years.
41:26
And so when the first investigation came out
41:29
in 2019, I, like I said earlier, had
41:33
just recently learned about the atrocities of the
41:35
dairy industry in general.
41:37
Then seeing that and having a child, it
41:39
affected me very much emotionally because I can't
41:43
imagine having my child ripped away from me.
41:46
Then since that investigation, now I've had two
41:49
more and now I see this.
41:51
And I just look around and I see
41:53
all these mothers.
41:55
Everyone is either a mother or there's someone's
41:58
child and they had a mother.
42:00
So it's something that I think once you
42:02
understand and once, I mean, most people I
42:05
think still don't even understand that this is
42:07
another species lactation and it's not meant for
42:10
us.
42:11
And when you put it all together, it
42:12
becomes pretty simple.
42:14
And I think Coca-Cola should just be
42:16
smart and get out now because me as
42:18
an activist, I'm not going to back down
42:20
until everybody understands what dairy is.
42:23
And I'm not going to stop asking stores
42:25
to take Fair Life off their shelves.
42:27
And I'm not going to stop asking the
42:29
mainstream media to talk about this.
42:31
So they should just, they're lucky.
42:33
They don't even own the farms.
42:34
They only own the plants.
42:35
And like you said, they can just switch
42:36
those over.
42:38
It is an opportunity.
42:40
In every negative situation, maybe not all of
42:44
them, but in a lot of negative situations,
42:47
there is a way to extract victory from
42:51
it.
42:51
Nobody has anything personally against this company.
42:55
It's the videos.
42:56
It's the videos of what we're seeing here.
42:58
And just as a member of the human
43:02
race, I'm shaken.
43:03
I can tell you, I'm not making it
43:05
up.
43:06
I've seen a lot of horrible crime footage.
43:08
I've actually seen dead people when I've covered
43:10
murder cases as a beat reporter.
43:14
But looking at that video, just really, it
43:17
did something to me.
43:19
It just, I don't have any words for
43:24
it.
43:25
Why?
43:27
When there's an alternative that doesn't involve using
43:29
cows at all, that it's just tasty and
43:32
has added benefit of being zero cholesterol.
43:35
What's it going to take?
43:37
Now, back in 2019, Shannon, after the investigation
43:43
that caused a lot of headlines, okay?
43:45
That one caused more headlines than this one,
43:48
which is an interesting phenomenon that I know
43:50
you addressed, Kudo, but the story isn't over
43:53
yet.
43:53
So who knows, right?
43:55
It's just beginning.
43:57
But you were so desperate to spread the
44:00
word, you and your son and a group
44:04
of friends went into a supermarket and you
44:07
did an in-store protest outside the dairy
44:10
aisle.
44:11
And this went viral, not from the video
44:14
you shot, but my understanding is there was
44:16
another person, like a consumer, just looking at
44:18
it and shooting it and sold it to
44:20
some outlet that put it up and it
44:23
got something like a million views.
44:25
But here- It got over 10 million
44:27
views, actually.
44:28
Wow, over 10 million views, this protest.
44:30
So watch this protest.
44:33
Okay, so this is a demonstration of the
44:36
dairy industry where female cows are forcibly impregnated.
44:42
They carry a baby for nine months, just
44:45
like a human female, and then today their
44:48
precious baby's born.
44:50
They are ripped away from their mother.
44:52
Their mothers cry out for days, sometimes weeks.
44:55
Please give me my baby back.
44:58
No, no, no.
45:00
My baby.
45:02
Somebody help.
45:05
Please don't take my baby.
45:07
So a recent undercover investigation came out from
45:10
Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana.
45:13
The brand Fair Life is one of their
45:17
products, which is distributed by Coca-Cola.
45:19
What happens to baby cows and mother cows
45:23
on dairy farms every day?
45:26
Mother cows are forcibly impregnated and they carry
45:29
their babies for nine months, and when the
45:32
baby is born, the baby is stolen from
45:36
their mothers immediately.
45:38
And so we can take their dairy milk.
45:42
We have some footage here for Fair Life
45:44
Farm, and today we're showing an undercover investigation
45:49
of the abuse that these mother cows and
45:52
baby cows endure on this dairy farm.
45:56
Abuse is rampant on dairy farms.
45:58
This is not just one case.
46:01
Wow, that got 10 million views, not from
46:04
the angle that you were shooting and recording.
46:07
And by the way, that's on Unchained TV.
46:08
You can watch it, the whole thing.
46:10
It goes on for quite a while.
46:12
It's fascinating.
46:13
But somebody else, a shopper, took the video
46:15
and sold it to an outlet, and you
46:19
had told me it got something like 10
46:20
million views.
46:21
But I think it's a sign of your
46:23
desperation, and correct me if I'm wrong to
46:25
get the word out.
46:26
I mean, people don't do that because it's
46:28
fun.
46:30
It's done.
46:30
It would strike me out of desperation to
46:33
wake people up in some way, shape, or
46:35
form.
46:36
Can you tell me a little bit about
46:39
your motives and how you felt and how
46:44
the others felt reenacting what happens, in their
46:47
opinion, in dairy?
46:48
So that was just one of the many
46:50
times that we did that demonstration.
46:52
And the reason that we were doing it,
46:55
like you said, was to raise awareness about
46:57
the inherent cruelty of the dairy industry, but
46:59
also to show this above and beyond, which
47:02
is why we had the props and the
47:03
kicking was going on.
47:05
And I think that you're absolutely right.
47:08
It was a complete attempt in desperation.
47:11
We'll do anything that we can to get
47:13
people to realise what's happening.
47:15
I've been to dairy farms all over the
47:17
country now, from the east coast to the
47:20
west coast, small, tiny farms that have only
47:23
10 female cows, where I'm from in upstate
47:25
New York, to massive farms, ones that supplied
47:29
or possibly still do to fair life.
47:32
And the just seeing the hutches that exist,
47:36
not an up-close view of the kicking
47:38
and the punching and what we've seen in
47:40
these undercover investigations, but just what it is.
47:44
It's thousands of female animals being forcibly impregnated.
47:48
The sperm is typically being brought from a
47:51
different facility.
47:52
So there's just females on the property.
47:55
And when they're born, that's all they want
47:56
is more females.
47:58
So the males go somewhere else and the
48:00
babies go in these hutches.
48:01
And just that in itself, every single human
48:05
being should have a problem with that.
48:07
And from my experience, they do once they
48:10
see it.
48:11
And that's why these industries are so desperate
48:14
to keep it hidden.
48:15
And that's why I'm so desperate to get
48:17
the truth out is because I genuinely believe
48:20
that most people are good.
48:21
I think most people do love animals, but
48:24
we've just been born into this world of
48:26
normalised violence and we're desensitised to a lot
48:29
of it.
48:30
But I don't think most people are desensitised
48:32
to the horrors of the dairy industry.
48:34
They're just not aware of them.
48:36
So yes, I'll do anything I can to
48:38
get the word out within my legal limits.
48:41
Yeah.
48:43
Ditto.
48:44
I mean, this is the role of journalists
48:47
to get this information out.
48:50
And as Kudo was mentioning, there's a lot
48:55
of pressure to look the other way.
48:57
It's too graphic.
48:59
So if you just write this and you
49:02
write an article about it without showing it,
49:04
it doesn't have the impact.
49:06
Because it was really, I had read a
49:08
couple of articles and then it was when
49:09
I looked at the video that I started
49:11
having this emotional reaction that I literally was
49:16
like, I'm embarrassed to be a member of
49:20
the human race.
49:21
That's what occurred to me.
49:23
Shame for my species.
49:26
Shame.
49:28
And it just, it goes beyond anger.
49:31
It goes beyond, it's just almost this existential
49:36
sense of why have we created hell on
49:39
earth for these animals?
49:40
For what purpose?
49:42
When there's obvious alternatives and that are better
49:47
for the environment, that are better for human
49:51
health because heart disease is a leading killer
49:53
and zero cholesterol products have health benefits.
49:57
I just, when it doesn't make any sense
50:01
on any level except for profit, that's when
50:07
I say, wow, you know, our culture has
50:10
crossed over into something that I don't really
50:14
recognise.
50:16
It's like, like I said, there's really no
50:24
words.
50:25
I will pray literally on my knees that
50:31
Coca-Cola consider transitioning to plant-based.
50:37
Give it a shot.
50:39
Do one with oat milk.
50:41
Just see how it goes.
50:43
Or soy milk or almond milk or whatever
50:45
milk you want.
50:46
Just see how it goes.
50:47
I'm going to get on my knees and
50:48
pray for that.
50:50
Pray.
50:51
Because I don't want to live in a
50:54
world where this is somehow allowed to go
50:58
on.
50:59
So final thoughts, kudos.
51:03
What are your final thoughts?
51:05
And again, kudos for your courageous, relentless work
51:10
in this field.
51:12
Thank you.
51:13
I think it's important to know we are
51:15
working with law enforcement.
51:17
The sheriff's office in that county in the
51:20
greater Phoenix area has taken this case as
51:23
well as the Arizona Department of Agriculture law
51:26
enforcement division.
51:27
So we are working with the head lieutenant
51:29
there.
51:29
It's important to know that this is a
51:31
three minute video that was put out to
51:33
the greater public.
51:34
But I edited this video in which I
51:37
sent another video to law enforcement, which was
51:40
14 hours long with edited, small edited clips
51:45
of felony and misdemeanour animal cruelty only that
51:50
violated state law.
51:52
That type of footage, over 14 hours of
51:57
it, it took me up to six months
52:00
to edit that, is beyond anything I've ever
52:04
edited before in any case globally.
52:07
Not just the dairy industry.
52:09
So that's the type of level of cruelty
52:10
that we're looking at here.
52:14
We're hoping for felony and misdemeanour arrests, not
52:19
that it's going to change much, but that
52:21
it's going to drive media, right?
52:22
Because arrests drive media.
52:25
And that this will blow this case up
52:28
globally for people to be educated on Fair
52:31
Life, but not just Fair Life milk and
52:33
Coca-Cola, but the dairy industry as well,
52:36
because this is the face of the dairy
52:38
industry, right?
52:41
So we're hoping that people are educated and
52:45
see who Coca-Cola really is, who Fair
52:48
Life really is, and what the dairy industry
52:50
really is and make that transition for the
52:53
first time in their lives possibly to go
52:55
to the grocery store and for the first
52:58
time buy that plant-based butter or yoghurt
53:01
milk, that first oat milk or almond milk
53:07
or mayonnaise.
53:08
There are so many tastier products out there
53:13
other than cow's milk.
53:15
And that is what's sustaining this industry, right?
53:18
People purchasing the product.
53:20
So not government, not the dairy industry, but
53:23
we the people have the power to stop
53:25
the cruelty.
53:27
That's it.
53:28
It's simple.
53:30
Yeah.
53:31
Thank you for that.
53:32
And Shannon, your final thoughts.
53:35
I'm just, well, I'm really grateful to Kudo
53:38
and his team for doing these investigations because
53:42
otherwise it just stays hidden completely.
53:45
And I'm so grateful to you, Jane, for
53:47
amplifying the situation.
53:49
And my final thoughts, I just hope that
53:52
everyone who's watching will just do their best
53:55
to get involved and boycott Fair Life, obviously,
54:00
and all dairy.
54:01
I've been boycotting Coca-Cola and the Simply
54:05
Juices and everything they make for years personally,
54:07
because that's what I feel like I want
54:10
to do until they get out of the
54:11
dairy business.
54:12
But I hope that the average person will
54:14
get upset about this and that they will
54:17
not only do the avoiding of the dairy
54:19
and the brand, but also ask their store
54:23
managers to please take it off the shelves.
54:25
Because if you go into a store all
54:26
the time, you're the one that they care
54:28
about.
54:29
So you keep doing that.
54:30
Enough people do that all over the place.
54:32
Enough people make phone calls, write emails.
54:34
We'll get it done.
54:37
AnimalRecoveryMission.org is where there is a petition.
54:39
If you want to sign it, AnimalRecoveryMission.org.
54:43
I want to thank everybody for joining us
54:45
for this podcast.
54:46
Please share it out if you're watching on
54:47
social media.
54:49
And you can also share it out if
54:50
you're watching it on the Unshamed TV streaming
54:52
network.
54:54
Again, I invite Coca-Cola, Fair Life, any
54:58
industry executive involved in this in any way,
55:01
shape or form on to discuss.
55:04
I would love that.
55:05
I would love to dialogue with you about
55:08
a way forward that doesn't involve animals.
55:14
Thank you so much for joining us.
55:16
Thank you.