While no one condones the acts of animal abuse seen on a recent video released by an animal rights extremist group, there is more to the story behind that video than has been told. A recent press release from David Phillips, the Union County, Ohio Prosecuting Attorney, where the abuse took place, sheds more light on the situation.

Because of the seriousness of the case, a grand jury investigation was conducted. The prosecutor praised the Union County Sheriff's Office for the thoroughness in investigating the farm and what took place. They interviewed dozens of witnesses and experts, reviewed tapes and hundreds of pages of documents. Assistance was provided by the Union County Humane Society, Health Department and Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Gary Conklin, owner of Conklin Farms in Plain city was cleared of allegations of animal abuse. According to Phillips, the grand jury found no probable cause to believe Conklin committed any crime. "They saw the unedited video of Mr. Conklin's actions," said Phillips, "not the highly inflammatory version released on YouTube by Mercy for Animals."

In the YouTube video, a short segment of Gary Conklin kicking a cow was spliced between scenes of animals being abused by Billy Joe Gregg, the employee accused of the abuse. Conklin's actions were needed to get a downer cow up because she was at risk of further injury, suffering and death, according to four experts who reviewed the video.

The fact that the video was edited raises the question of how much other editing was done to make the abuse look bad and present an image of abuse on most livestock farms.

Testimony was also heard from the undercover operative put on the farm by Mercy for Animals, Jason Smith from Texas. Smith had told law enforcement that he did not witness any abuse by Mr. Conklin and that Conklin did not know of the abuse by Billy Joe Gregg. "Neither smith nor Mercy for animals brought the abuse to Mr. Conklin's attention," said Phillips. "The first time he became aware of the abuse was when he saw the video on YouTube. When he became aware, Mr. Conklin immediately fired Gregg."

Phillips said the grand jury also considered charges against Jason smith, the undercover agent, and Mercy for Animals but decided there wasn't enough evidence to proceed against them. Smith did admit to abuse by kicking animals and poking them with a pitchfork. He claimed he did it to maintain cover.

Phillips also wonders why law enforcement wasn't told about the abuse earlier. "The investigator told me that MFA was aware of the abuse, since he reported to them on a daily basis. MFA allowed the abuse to continue, unreported, and animals to suffer at the hands of Billy Joe Gregg. They allowed it to continue for three weeks so they could film it," he said. He said it was wrong not to call law enforcement immediately.

"As soon as the investigator and MFA became aware of M. Gregg's actions, someone should have notified law enforcement or the humane society. Had they done so, much of the abuse at the hands of Billy Joe Gregg shown on the video never would have happened, and the animals would have been saved," Phillips added.

Unfortunately law enforcement continues to receive reports of threats against the Conklin family and farm. Some call for violence and even murder and are being taken seriously.

So you see there is more to the story than the media has been telling us. Thanks to Union County Officials for their thorough investigation and for providing factual information about the results.