Operation Strauss Veal Feeds stands as the fourth and final installment of the most extensive dairy investigation ever executed within the United States. The three previous cases of this series of investigations included; Operation Fair Oaks Farms Dairy Adventure, Operation Fairlife, and Operation Natural Prairie Dairy. 

Conducted between May and August 2019, Strauss Veal Feeds hired an ARM investigator to work at the Midwest veal nursery in North Manchester (IN). The operation focused on the connection between the dairy industry to veal farms and the abhorrent cruelty that calves are discarded and subjected to daily as by-products.

ARM discovered the Midwest Veal Nursery barn while working at Prairies Edge Fair Oaks Farms during Operation Fair Oaks Farms Dairy Adventure. ARM exposed Fair Oaks Farms and the Fairlife company, lying about their animal care practices and their involvement in the veal industry.

This investigation revealed and exposed criminal acts against calves ranging from brutal and inhumane handling during loading and transportation to continual confinement in disgusting conditions. In the ‘nursery’ location, calves are imprisoned in 2 1/2 by 5 feet crates with wooden slats for flooring. They are kept in these crates for eight weeks, so small that the calves can’t perform natural movements or turn around, and forced to live in their excrement. 

ARM investigators also documented calves living in total darkness for up to 20 hours a day. While employed at the Midwest Veal Nursery, another employee told the ARM operative that the lights and ventilation fans were to be kept off for as long as possible to save the company money. Temperatures often exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and many calves died of dehydration and heat exhaustion. 

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