Newton County releases names of 3 charged in Fair Oaks Farms animal abuse case

                  Suspects are still at-large

Three people have been charged with animal cruelty after the release of video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves at Fair Oaks Farms, a northwest Indiana dairy farm that's an agritourism destination.

The Newton County Sheriff's Office Tuesday identified the three people charged, a day after announcing it had filed misdemeanor charges for the beating of a vertebrate animal. The suspecsta are now indentified as 31-year-old Santiago Ruvalcaba Contreros, 36-year-old Edgar Gardozo Vazquez; and 38-year-old Miguel Angel Navarro Serrano. The sheriff’s office said it was still trying to locate the men and has not yet made arrests. The investigation is continuing and more interviews are being conducted. 

Richard Couto, the founder of the animal welfare group that filmed and released the undercover video showing the abuse at the farm, said the arrests are “a step in the right direction” but don’t go far enough to hold the farm accountable.

94.1 WGFA