Ex-Indiana farm worker gets probation for abusing calves at Fair Oaks Farms

NEWTON COUNTY, Ind. (WGN) -- A man accused of abusing calves on a large northwest Indiana farm has been sentenced to a year of probation after a felony charge was dropped.

Officials said in June that 36-year-old Edgar Gardozo-Vasquez is one of three former employees of popular "agri-tourism" destination Fair Oaks Farms charged with a misdemeanor for animal cruelty following the release of undercover video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves.

Gardozo-Vasquez pleaded guilty Monday before being sentenced.

He had also been charged with a felony count of torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal. Journal and Courier reports the prosecutor dropped that charge.

The Animal Recovery Mission group (ARM) released video showing the mistreatment of cows at Fair Oaks and other farms affiliated with the Fairlife Corporation.

Visitors to Fair Oaks are given tours of the rotary carousel milking machine, which is touted as humane, but the undercover investigators said the reality in barns not open to the public is just the opposite.