Willie Nelson stands up for cows

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 28, 2008

DUBLIN -- Country singer Willie Nelson has joined a campaign targeting Dublin-based Challenge Dairy Products for supporting a calf ranch that "violates state anti-cruelty laws," according to a lawsuit filed by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

An online petition urges the facility and St. Paul, Minn.-based Land O'Lakes to stop using milk from calves raised at Mendes Calf Ranch in Tipton, a Central Valley town between Fresno and Bakersfield.

"As a cowboy, I must stand up for cows," Nelson stated in a cover letter for the petition, which now has nearly 24,000 signatures.

"It's a tragedy to see the small-town farmer, who cared deeply for his backyard animals, is rapidly being edged out by huge facilities that look more like factories than farms -- and treat animals no better than machines."

Lisa Franzetta of the ALDF said they are targeting the two companies because they are large-scale dairy producers.

"They are really in a position to be leaders in the industry and do the right thing with these calves," she said. "If they were to make demands with suppliers, others would follow."

According to a company Web site, Challenge uses products from over 600 family-owned farms.

Officials from California Dairies Inc., which owns Challenge, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The ALDF petition was started in October. In June 2006, the group filed lawsuit against Mendes for allegedly isolating and confining newborn calves in crates, which they say is illegal.

The lawsuit was dismissed by lower courts, but the ALDF filed an appeal with the California Supreme Court this week.

"While we have this case going on in court, we also want to take it to the court of public opinion," Franzetta said. "We want to speak to Land O'Lakes and Challenge in a way they understand. We need consumers to say they're not going to buy their products anymore, because animals should be treated with at least the small degree of protection that the law affords them."

Franzetta called the Mendes ranch a "nightmarish boarding school," where calves are taken away from their mothers until old enough to produce milk.

"They can barely turn around comfortably," she said.

Franzetta said that since Nelson signed on to the campaign Monday, about 1,500 names have been added to the petition. She suspected many of them were the result of publicity on TMZ.com, a celebrity-news oriented Web site.

"Willie is a longtime advocate for small-town farmers, and he's done some animal advocacy in the past as well," said Franzetta. "He's just a natural fit."

Reach Eric Kurhi at 925-847-2184 or ekurhi@bayareanewsgroup.com.