Over the weekend, a group of vegan activists protested at a Bath farm where they had previously filmed unacceptable cow treatment.
On Saturday, December 11, Animal Justice Project visited Bath Soft Cheese Company’s Park farm in Kelston, near Bath.
A group of about 40 activists gathered at the location where a shocking video they shot last month surfaced, purporting to show a farm worker ‘kicking’ a cow.
“Forty activists were in attendance at Saturday’s event,” said Claire Palmer, director of Animal Justice Project.
“It comes after Bath Soft Cheese did nothing but fire a worker and claim to have public viewing windows in response to our findings.
“Windows that clearly did not prevent animal suffering and abuse.” The farm has confirmed that they continue to send calves to slaughter, handing over babies as young as a few days old to a dealer so that they can wash their hands of them.
“Bath Soft Cheese may have won industry awards, but they don’t appear to be able to protect the animals in their “care,” or even notice when something is seriously wrong.
“Investigations like ours exist to show the public the heartbreaking reality for dairy cows and their calves, and that even organic farms cannot be trusted to do the right thing.” Veganism is on the rise in the United Kingdom, indicating that people are taking notice.
Hugh Padfield, the farm’s owner, said he was “horrified” by the footage, which was shot between March and September this year, and that a member of staff has been fired as a result.
Following the viewing of the video, the farm owner stated that it depicted “unacceptable” behaviour by a staff member and that the rest of the staff genuinely cares about the animals.
According to the farm, the protesters are attempting to prevent people from enjoying their award-winning cheeses.
“One of the lead vegan protesters during the protest said over his loudspeaker to Hugh Padfield, the farmer who runs Bath Soft Cheese: “We are not here because of animal welfare, we are here because we want you to ditch dairy and grow plant based food”, according to Bath Soft Cheese.
“The vegan protesters are trying to force the rest of society to adopt vegan diets, trying to stop people from enjoying our award-winning organic Cheese this Christmas.
“As we have previously stated, anyone who knows Bath Soft Cheese and Park farm will know that we strive to be as open and transparent as possible, by allowing the public to view the farm’s working operations seven days a week and inviting discussion about organic milk production and artisan Cheese.
“We have created an unusual level of public access to ensure we maintain the highest standards of welfare on our farm and we expect our staff to adhere to these standards at all times.
“We remain in constant dialogue with all of our customers. Wholesale customers regularly visit and audit our site and all who have done so have been happy that we maintain high standards of animal welfare at the farm.
“Thanks to the loyalty and understanding of our customers we expect to sell all the Cheese that we have made for people to enjoy this Christmas.”
A member of staff is seen slapping, punching, and kicking cows, as well as hitting them with plastic pipes around their hindquarters, legs, and udders, according to the video.
The video also shows calves being separated from their mothers, which causes some animals to cry.
