Mercy for Animals held a news conference in downtown Cleveland Tuesday, where it showed video taken at an Ohio veal factory farm.
The video, the group claimed, showed cruel treatment of the calves.
Arathi Jayaram, director of operations of Mercy for Animals, says undercover scenes document the "harsh, yet completely standard and largely acceptable intensive confinement young calves endure."
The video showed calves chained in narrow stalls, a practice which is legal in Ohio but which will likely be outlawed by agreement by the year 2017. The group called such confinement cruel.
"The calves live their short 18- to 20-week lives chained by the neck, inside tiny, filthy wooden crates, where they cannot even turn around, walk, run, play, or engage in natural behaviors," Jayaram told reporters.
Mercy for Animals acknowledged what was shown on their video was legal, and that the practice was scheduled to be phased out, but said they wanted to hasten the process by putting pressure on the Ohio Livestock Care Board.
Ohio's governor, the Ohio Farm Bureau, and animal activists signed an agreement on June 30, pledging to work together to end the use of such "veal crates" in the state.
"We encourage all Ohioans to write to the Livestock Care Board, asking them to immediately implement all terms of the agreement," Jayaram announced.
Jayaram said the best way for consumers to fight what the group considers to be the cruel treatment of farm animals, is to give up meat and dairy products, and turn to a vegan diet.
WKYC-TV