Three Florida dairy workers arrested in light of videos allegedly showing cow torture

Three people were arrested after videos of alleged animal abuse surfaced from a Florida dairy farm, according to reports.

An investigation was opened after the Animal Recovery Mission group released videos of cows at a farm in Okeechobee being abused, according to Spectrum Bay News 9. The videos showed cows being beaten and chased.

Now, officials have charged Mario Hernandez, 31, with a felony count of causing cruel death and pain and suffering. Two other men, Fernando Lopez Cruz, 44, and Naul Garcia, 31, are both charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals, Bay News 9 reported.

The arrests were announced by the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

All three men worked at McArthur Dairy. It’s one of three Okeechobee county dairies to be accused of abusing animals since November, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Hernandez, who worked as an assistant supervisor, hit a cow with a sharpened PVC pipe, officials told the Palm Beach Post. Lopez and Garcia allegedly struck a cow in the udders with PVC pipe.

There is also a warrant for a fourth person’s arrest, according to the Palm Beach Post.

McArthur Dairy Farms supplies Publix Super markets, the Sun Sentinel reported. Publix has said it suspected deliveries of raw milk from McArthur Dairy.

The video from the Animal Recovery Mission was shot between August and October after they were hired by McArthur Dairy. Officials and ARM came to an agreement that ARM would wait to release the video until the sheriff’s office could investigate, according to the Palm Beach Post. A fourth dairy is also under investigation.

But with hundreds of hours of video to go through and more than 1,000 cows, Okeechobee Sheriff Noel Stephen told the Palm Beach Post investigators will still go through “every minute” of video.

More video released Thursday shows more abuse in Florida dairy farms, including workers using blowtorches on cows’ udders, as well as cows appearing to be burned, shot, electrocuted to crush, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Three Florida dairy workers arrested in light of videos allegedly showing cow torture."