The owners of Larson Dairy are defending themselves after the release of adisturbing video showing employees pushing and even kicking cows.
Larson Dairy in Okeechobee is a well-known family business in the county.
Jacob Larson is in charge. "This is what we do," as he points to about 2,000 cows.
He Barn #2 is where Animal Recovery Mission shot the undercover video showing employees allegedly abusing cows.
"Very disappointing to me," said Larson.
He fired one employee shown in the video, two others have been suspended.
Larson says this is the first time he's ever heard of an employee treating a cow this way.
"We take good care of our cows. It's extremely important our cows are cool, they're comfortable and they're clean because that's what makes high-quality milk," said Larson.
He says if any employee sees this kind of abuse, they are to report it to their supervisors. In this case, Larson says that did not happen.
Federal investigators with OSHA have never investigated Larson farms and in their most recent inspection, the Florida Department of Agriculture gave the farm a score of 96%.
