In late February, animal rights activists from Direct Action Everywhere flew a drone over a calf ranch in the Central Valley and watched as workers kicked and punched the animals. A "certified humane farm," Agresti Calf Ranch is operated by Double D Dairy and supplies to Clover Sonoma. As is usual with cases like these, where inhumane treatment and abuse is documented, the company will blame a few employees or call the business as usual an isolated incident. Repeated investigations have shown otherwise, even with the documentation is incidental as was the case here where investigators were simply taking drone footage of factory farms. Read more from the LA Times here. Information about factory farms in california can be found at factoryfarmwatch.org.

A new white paper sets out the case, and a strong case, that industrial “cage-free” systems cause many of the same cruelties—and can in some ways add to them—for birds, who despite the fancy labels and pictures of bucolic paradise, still endure crowding, mutilations, injury, chronic stress, transport, and terrifying deaths. See the report and more info here.

California has one of the largest factory farming industries in the nation, with over 1300 large-scale animal operations that collectively raise hundreds of millions of animals every year. With this map and database, you can see exactly where these facilities are located and learn about their impacts on the state.
​Factory Farm Watch aims to democratize access to information about the often secretive operations and impacts of factory farms in California. It is a resource for journalists, policymakers, advocates, and residents.

​According to the lawsuit, the Global Animal Partnership (GAP), a humane-washing scheme and Whole Foods 365 brand affiliate, puts “animal welfare certified” labels on products that come from animals who have been kicked, slammed, and endured many other egregious cruelties. The misleadingly labeled product is then sold to well-meaning shoppers at Whole Foods and other grocers. Read more about the lawsuit here.

​After more than a decade of sitting on the board of directors of a group that slaps deceptive “animal welfare certified” labels on meat sold at Whole Foods, national animal welfare groups the ASPCA, Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society of the United States), and Compassion in World Farming have quietly fled the board of the Global Animal Partnership. Read more from PETA here.

The lawsuit alleges that Tillamook misrepresents where their products come from in their “Dairy Done Right” and “Goodbye Big Food” marketing campaigns, distancing themselves from the realities of large-scale dairy production while charging a higher price. #HumaneWashing
“This case is on behalf of all of the folks who were paying a price premium for these allegedly small-scale-produced products when in fact they’re very mass-produced,” said Amanda Howell, an attorney at Animal Legal Defense Fund, one of the litigators in the case. Read more here.