$100K Bond Set for Ohio Man in Cow Abuse Case

(CBS/AP)  A dairy farm worker accused of abusing cows in an undercover video has had his bond set at $100,000 by an Ohio judge.

A Marysville Municipal Court clerk said 25-year-old Billy Joe Gregg Jr. of Delaware, Ohio, remained in jail after Thursday's hearing. He was charged Wednesday with 12 counts of cruelty to animals and is due back in court June 10 to enter a plea.

An animal welfare group says video it recorded for an undercover investigation showed Gregg and others beating cows with crowbars and poking them with pitchforks at Conklin Dairy Farms Inc.

The video was recorded in an undercover investigation, said Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.

Click here to see the video on Mercy For Animals' website. Be advised, content is graphic and disturbing.

The video shows workers holding down newborn calves and stomping on their heads. It shows one worker wiring a cow's nose to a metal bar near the ground and repeatedly beating it with another bar while it bleeds.

The farm in Plain City, northwest of Columbus, has condemned the video footage and says it fired Gregg.

Court officials say Gregg does not yet have an attorney and has requested a public defender.

Last year, Mercy For Animals, which is based in Chicago, released a video showing workers at an Iowa egg hatchery tossing male chicks into a grinder. Industry groups said such instantaneous euthanasia was a common practice because male chicks can't lay eggs or be raised quickly enough to be sold for meat.

Mercy For Animals' executive director, Nathan Runkle, said the cow video was shot between April 28 and Sunday by an undercover worker at the dairy.

[4thebuddies]

This sick bastard only got 8 months in jail. http://www.facebook.com/people/Billy-Joe-Gregg-Jr/1432740268 Here is his Facebook page. Please take the time to send him a message so that when he gets out of jail, he knows what people think of him.

[luvacow]

From reports Gary Conklin called the sheriff's department before he fired Greggs. Obviously, Conklin was aware Gregg's was a psycho, was torturing animals, and was scared of him. He seems to have been okay with Greggs treatment of the cattle.. It also leads me to believe he knew Gregg's had a handgun. If the dairy farms want to dispose of unwanted male calves when they are born, they must kill them humanely. Sickos that eat baby calves (veal) or lamb need to spend a day on a factory farm...up close and personal. The Conklins are receiving thousands of taxpayers dollars through USDA. I don't want my taxes supporting these people. I eat very little meat but when I do it is from a ranch who raises grass fed cows. $6/pound for hamburger but will pay the owner willingly as they are not receiving USDA handouts disguised as farm subsidies.

[noowaay]

Let me tell you. First I saw that video of this abuse was last week and made me sick to think a crazy man such as him was even on the street much less that someone would hire him to work around animals.
Those cows should be placed at a farm that is well known for the good care of their animals and that dairy farm should be shut down and fined for obviously not monitoring the people they hire to work with their animals. There's no excuse what so ever for them not noticing this kind of abuse on their farm.
All of these type industries should have 24/7 video's recording what is going on if they can't afford enough manpower to make sure no abuse is happening at them. And this means not to just ignor and not look at these videos but to montior them daily. These animals that have been abused is the same animals that is making that dairy farm their money.
Animals feel pain just like humans and I think our law should get stricter on people who are found to abuse animals.....ALL ANIMALS.... to where they will actually learn by their mistakes. Personally I think such as in this case the guy needs to be locked away with harden criminals for life since he not only abused these animals but in a very brutal manor.
Punching baby cows until they cried in pain. Throwing them down by their ears then stomping on them. Twisting a cows tail until it breaks. Poking the cows with a pitch fork. Come on this is sick.
This man deserves no mercy what so ever. He's old enough to know better and actually seemed to enjoy causing pain on these animals.
If he does this to animals who knows how he treats human beings. Obviously he enjoys having control so put him in a prison to show him how it feels to be helpless just as those animals were and being abused by others who don't care about him what so ever and love to watch him suffer and feel pain over and over again just as those animals did in his hands.
SHUT DOWN THAT DAIRY FARM AND PUT THOSE ANIMALS WHERE THEY WILL BE CARED FOR IN THE PROPER MANOR.

[jhing58]

They should also close this Ohio dairy farm and fine the owner.

[jhing58]

$100,000 is just right plus time in jail(20 yrs maybe or more)

[jh2212]

After viewing this video, and reading the statement from Gary Conklin, I am wondering
if Gary Conklin will be getting retrained himself. The shots of him repeatedly kicking
that cow at (1:26 in the video) is disgraceful. However, the fact that at 1:59 in the
video, Billy Joe Gregg is shown telling how they savagely broke her tail in 3 places,
stabbed her repeatedly in the a**, dragged the cow, beat that f****r 'til her face
was like this big around, (he shows how big with his outstretched arms). ' Could'nt
get her into the parlor,' (that's what the area they milk the cows in is called, a milking
parlor) Next day Gary says we're gonna send her to meat, 'cause she had mastitis and

all." Well, the reason she wouldn't go into the milking parlor (where she had probably gone
hundreds of times before is because mastitis is an extremely painful condition of the cows

udder and being milked was probably excruciatingly painful to her. I don't know if it can be caused by being repeatedly being kicked, punched, and stabbed with a pitchfork in the udder
but all of that abuse certainly can't help. My point is, that aside from the absolutely brutal,
savage and sadistic (1:45 in video Billy Joe said, "When I get goin,' it's jut like. oh, this feels good.
I just wanna keep f*****g hittin' 'em.)acts, they were trying to force a cow with mastitis into
the milking parlor to be milked! That milk was going to be added to all the rest of the milk
in a tank and hauled to a dairy to be bottled and sold to you and me. How much more
infected milk is being hauled off that farm (and probably other farms, too) and added to the milk
supply.
Gary Conklin needs to find another way to make a living, he's obviously sick of cows and dairy
farming. His farm has been a chamber of horrors, too long. It's apparent he condones and
participates in these horrendously cruel actions with his farm hands. His response to just send
these savagely abused animals 'off to beef' speaks volumes. Any sane farmer who cares about
his animals would want to know who beat and savaged the cow, found out fired the person and
Pressed charges against them. For Gary Conklin to fire Billy Joe Gregg it took a hidden video

Billy Joe Gregg needs more psychological help than he will ever receive. I fear for the safety of
any slow witted woman that would ever marry him and any children he would father. He's one
of the meanest, sickest, cruelest, people I have ever seen, and he aspired to become a police
officer. Frightening.
I'm afraid the only way to get Gary Conklin out of the dairy farm business is refusing to do business

any and every dairy that purchases his milk. Gary Conklin should receive such a huge fine that it

will make him cry. I don't think he will, though. Too bad.

[newsterI]

Billy Joe said, "When I get goin,' it's jut like. oh, this feels good.
I just wanna keep f*****g hittin' 'em.
Billy Joe Gregg needs more psychological help than he will ever receive. I fear for the safety of
any slow witted woman that would ever marry him and any children he would father. He's one
of the meanest, sickest, cruelest, people I have ever seen, and he aspired to become a police
officer. Frightening. "

This guy and the others are sick mother f'kers who need to be thrown in jail a long time, preferably some prison justice will help!
Man, I dont remember seeing this level of sadistic vicious abuse, its clear these pricks have been doing this for years. IMAGINE this Gregg guy as a police officer or father!
When this guy gets out he will be in the news again someday, his violence towards animals will probably worsen as he mentally lays blame for his arrest on ANIMALS.
I could envision this nut killing someone's dog or cat in a sadistic revenge rage when he gets out.

[kansas1946]

I just think human beings are universally nuts. Luckily for the cows, this is one nut that they won't have to deal with in the future.

[laxboy10]

What he did is bad, but his bail for beating up cows is more that what people get for beating up other people

[ToolMangler1]

There should be "NO" pity for this guy.

[linfinster]

He didn't just beat up a cow. He tourchered them and enjoyed it! He is scum that should be put down for the disgusting example of humanity he is.

[Panhandle64]

I just watched the video and that was BAD! I hope he gets what is coming to him! They need to be after the others as well since it sounded like others were in on it and/or doing the same things!

[Crush1800]

I say bind him, splay him, and play him....