Bella Casara faces scrutiny over animal welfare concerns
By Food in Canada Staff
Business Operations Dairy animal welfare Bella Casara Ontario Ontario Water Buffalo Company PETA
This photo of a calf covered in waste and mud was given to PETA by a whistleblower and reportedly taken at Ontario Water Buffalo Company. Bella Casara’s buffalo mozzarella, sold at Loblaws and Longo’s, is caught up in a PETA investigation about long-term neglect and mistreatment of buffaloes at its milk supplier.
The animals were found confined to fly-ridden pens packed with feces and, according to a whistleblower, some had prolapsed uteruses and open wounds and some calves suffocated in their own waste.
PETA submitted evidence of these apparent violations of the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act at Ontario Water Buffalo Company to Provincial Animal Welfare Services in April 2023, but the neglect is allegedly ongoing. The group has now filed a second complaint with Provincial Animal Welfare Services.
“The animals at Ontario Water Buffalo Company seem to suffer and die in misery, with mothers forced to give birth repeatedly until their bodies give out and their calves left to be smothered in mounds of manure,” said PETA’s senior vice-president Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA urges anyone disgusted by this abuse to call on Loblaws and Longo’s to consider whether the pain of these buffaloes is worth the cheese on their shelves and to help end all such suffering by choosing readily available vegan cheeses instead.”
Print this page
