{"id":5393,"date":"2025-06-05T13:31:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?p=5393"},"modified":"2025-06-06T13:20:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:20:18","slug":"usda-confirms-animal-abuse-and-cruelty-at-alexandre-family-farm-dairy-now-admits-wrongdoing-legal-case-moves-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/usda-confirms-animal-abuse-and-cruelty-at-alexandre-family-farm-dairy-now-admits-wrongdoing-legal-case-moves-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"USDA Confirms Animal Abuse and Cruelty at Alexandre Family Farm; Dairy Now Admits Wrongdoing; Legal Case Moves Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Image: A calf at Alexandre Family Farm, isolated in a plastic hutch, face caked with muck, standing on a floor covered by dirty slurry.<\/em><\/p>\n

Government finds Alexandre abuses animals<\/h1>\n

A USDA investigation has validated Farm Forward allegations against Alexandre Family Farm, confirming violations of organic and animal welfare standards. USDA’s certifier moved to suspend Alexandre\u2019s organic certification and placed the company under heightened oversight. Farm Forward obtained the USDA\u2019s final report through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and it confirms abuses and regulatory violations that Alexandre Family Farm had long denied\u2014until the agency\u2019s investigation and inspection records left them no choice but to admit wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Legal Case Moves Forward<\/h1>\n

In a separate development, one<\/a> of the two<\/a> current lawsuits against Alexandre cleared its first legal hurdle on Friday when a Humboldt County Superior Court judge ruled to allow a cruelty lawsuit to proceed against Alexandre.<\/p>\n

This case marks an important milestone: the first time that an animal cruelty statute in California has successfully been used to litigate the treatment of farmed animals, which has historically been used to protect companion animals. \u201cThis common-sense ruling demonstrates that the days of sweeping abuses of farmed animals under the rug are over,\u201d says<\/a> Legal Impact for Chickens President Alene Anello. \u201cThe cows held by Alexandre Family Farm deserve to have their agonizing stories told in court, and they are one giant step closer to that becoming a reality.”<\/p>\n

Alexandre’s Denials<\/h1>\n

Before we received the results of USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) investigation, Alexandre had consistently denied any wrongdoing\u2014offering public statements that ranged from deceptive to outright lies. On April 12, 2024, Lost Coast Outpost, a news site in Humboldt County, California, posted a response from Alexandre to Farm Forward\u2019s investigative report<\/a> and the article in The Atlantic<\/a> about our allegations of Alexandre\u2019s systematic abuse and cruelty to cows. Alexandre claimed<\/a> of our report that \u201cmany of the allegations are either totally false or fabricated half-truths<\/strong>.\u201d1<\/a> The company assured the public that it is<\/p>\n

guided by a deep care for our animals as well as protocols established by experts in the treatment of farm animals.\u00a0 Our adherence to these animal welfare standards is backed up by hundreds of pages of inspection reports from independent organizations that have conducted regular as well as random inspections on our farm over the years.2<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Truth Comes Out<\/h1>\n

However, when Alexandre responded to our allegations, not to us, or to the public, but to NOP in direct communications between the company and the agency, Alexandre admitted the truth of many of Farm Forward\u2019s allegations.<\/strong> Alexandre confirmed the following:<\/p>\n