The nation's largest meat company, Tyson Foods Inc., announced Friday that it will do an animal treatment audit of suppliers' farms. 
 
 Three former dairy workers with Idaho's largest dairy operation have been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after undercover video shot by an animal rights group showed workers stomping, dragging and beating cows inside a milking barn. 
 
 Three former dairy workers with Idaho's largest dairy operation have been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after undercover video shot by an animal rights group showed workers stomping, dragging and beating cows inside a milking barn. 
 
 A group released a video that shows mistreatment of cows at a dairy that supplies South Florida-based Burger King. The fast-food chain says it is committed to animal rights. 
 
 An undercover video produced by animal rights group Mercy for Animals is taking aim at Burger Kings record. 
 
 The graphic footage shows employees at an Idaho dairy farm kicking a cow in the face as blood drips from its nose and a tractor dragging a downed cow by a rope around its neck across a filthy floor. Another employee jumps on a cow like a trampoline and curses as he slams the cows neck in a metal gate. The animals are kept in tiny pens and limp on broken legs. 
 
 Bettencourt Dairies, with 60,000 cows, is the largest dairy farm in Idaho and supplies milk to Schreiber Foods, one of the companies whose cheese ends up on Burger Kings Whoppers. Mercy for Animals director Nathan Runkle accuses the Miami-Dade-based fast-food chain of allowing a culture of cruelty at its supplier farms. 
 
 The secret ingredient in Burger Kings cheese is horrific animal abuse, Runkle said. No socially responsible corporation should support dairy operations that beat, kick, mutilate, confine and neglect animals. 
 
 A statement from Burger King defended the companys commitment to animal rights with all vendors, and promised swift action in response to documented abuse at the dairy farm, which supplies a small percentage of dairy products to the chain. Burger King has recently won progress awards from PETA and the Humane Society for its code of ethics on animal welfare. 
 
 Matt Prescott, food policy director at the Humane Society of the United States, called the abuse in the video reprehensible, but supported Burger Kings record on animal rights over the past decade. He said the company is doing more to improve farm animal welfare than any other major restaurant chain. 
 
 Burger King was the first fast-food company in the country to use only cage-free eggs and eliminate cruel pig gestation crates from its pork supply chain, Prescott said. 
 
 There are no federal guidelines for animal treatment on dairy farms, and Mercy for Animals is calling on Burger King to set a higher standard for its suppliers. 
 
 Five Bettencourt employees were fired, three of whom face criminal charges for violations of Idaho code on animal cruelty. One of those workers has been arrested; the other two are still at large. 
 
 Bettencourt Dairies employs more than 500 people, and CFO Rick Onaindia said the abuse that was recorded in July was an isolated incident. The company, one of at least seven to supply milk to Burger King cheese producers, has shown the video to all workers and changed training protocol to reflect a zero tolerance attitude toward animal cruelty. ||||| Story highlights An undercover video by an animal rights group shows mistreatment to cows 
 
 The owner of a 30-year-old family dairy fires five workers 
 
 Three of the workers are charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty 
 
 The dairy provides milk to a supplier of Kraft Foods 
 
 Five workers at an Idaho dairy have been fired after an undercover video by animal rights activists showed mistreatment towards cows, the dairy owner said. 
 
 Three of the workers have been charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals, according to Twin Falls County District Court records. 
 
 Luis Bettencourt, owner of Bettencourt Dairies, told CNN his family-owned operation of 30 years was "appalled" at the video -- which the Mercy for Animals group says depicts workers and supervisors "violently hitting, stomping on, punching and kicking cows in the face and body." 
 
 The Idaho Department of Agriculture informed the dairy of the tape about five weeks ago, and Bettencourt fired all the individuals filmed in the mistreatment, he said. Since then, the business has installed video cameras to watch employees, he added. 
 
 "We are all devastated by it. We are family owned and we love our cattle," Bettencourt told CNN. "It's something we don't allow, and it's been a hard five weeks." 
 
 Bettencourt Dairies, based in Wendell, Idaho, has 13 milking facilities with about 60,000 cows and about 500 employees, its website says. The video was taken at the firm's Dry Creek Dairy site outside Hansen, Idaho, where about 10,000 Holstein cows are kept, the animal rights group said. 
 
 All 500 employees at 11 dairies have seen the video, and each has signed a document about zero tolerance on animal abuse, Bettencourt said. 
 
 The workers who have been charged are Jesus Garza, 24; Jose Acensio, 28; and Javier Victor Rojas Loayza, 39. 
 
 Kraft Foods said the dairy provides milks to a supplier, which processes raw material for Kraft, spokeswoman Angela Wiggins said in a statement. 
 
 "While Kraft does not raise dairy cows or have milking operations, we want animals to receive proper care and be treated with respect. We have long believed high-quality dairy products begin with quality animal care," Wiggins said. 
 
 "Kraft condemns the handling behaviors shown in this video as they are both upsetting and unacceptable," she said. 
 
 Burger King Corporation said the Bettencourt Dairies "may be an indirect supplier of a small percentage of cheese products" used in the chain's U.S. restaurants, spokesman Bryson W. Thornton said in a statement. 
 
 "Burger King Worldwide does not have a direct relationship with Bettencourt Dairies," Thornton said. "Burger King Worldwide estimates that a fraction of our dairy products, less than 1%, could have originated at the Bettencourt facility where the video that depicts inhumane treatment of dairy cows was allegedly filmed." 
 
 The firm "does not tolerate or condone cruelty to animals," he said. ||||| A cow is chained by its neck to a tractor in an image from undercover video shot at Bettencourt Dairies in Idaho and released by the activist group Mercy For Animals. (Mercy For Animals / ) 
 
 An Idaho dairy farm linked to Burger King, In-N-Out and other food companies has been accused by an animal rights group of “some of the most abusive treatment of animals” it had ever seen. 
 
 Undercover video footage (warning: images may be disturbing) provided by Mercy For Animals shows employees at Bettencourt Dairies, which has more than 60,000 cows, stomping on and beating cattle, twisting their tails and using a tractor to drag one animal by its chained neck. 
 
 The Murtaugh, Idaho, dairy works with cheese producers and suppliers, which in turn have deals with fast-food chains. Burger King said in a statement that it had suspended its indirect relationship with the dairy. 
 
 Mercy for Animals also alerted authorities at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Three Bettencourt workers now face misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, which were filed in August, according to Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant P. Loebs. 
 
 One worker, Jesus Garza, has been arraigned, Loebs said, while authorities have warrants out for another worker and a “low-level manager.” 
 
 Each of the three faces a fine of up to $5,000 and up to six months of jail time. 
 
 “The dairyman who owns this dairy has done absolutely nothing to encourage this,” Loebs said. “He has been 100% cooperative. He basically shut his dairy down to allow the police to search the facility and interview his employees.” 
 
 Bettencourt owners Luis and Sharon Bettencourt said in a statement that they were “appalled” at the images in the video. Immediately after being told by authorities about the allegations and viewing the video, the Bettencourts fired all five workers seen in the footage, they said. 
 
 The Bettencourts said they made changes to their facilities’ video monitoring, on-site security and signage. 
 
 “We feel it is our ethical and moral responsibility to take the best care possible of our cows,” the Bettencourts said in their statement. “Because of our commitment to our dairy herd, animal abuse or misuse has a zero tolerance policy and is dealt with as swiftly as possible.” 
 
 All dairy employees were required to watch the video and to sign and acknowledge the animal treatment policy, according to the statement. 
 
 Mercy for Animals is also asking Burger King to adopt new animal welfare guidelines that, in part, shun suppliers who allow “painful and unnecessary mutilations of animals” and require a good environment for cattle. 
 
 “We take this matter very seriously,” the company said in a statement. “Burger King Worldwide does not tolerate or condone cruelty to animals. As part of our animal welfare commitment, we require that all suppliers and their vendors adhere to our vendor code of ethics.” 
 
 Burger King said Bettencourt “may be an indirect supplier of a small percentage of cheese products to Burger King restaurants in the U.S.” The company said it has launched an “immediate investigation.” 
 
 “The portrayal of the Burger King brand in this attack is irresponsible and does not accurately reflect the company’s commitment and actions on issues relating to animal welfare,” the company said. 
 
 In-N-Out also released a statement, in which Mark Taylor, its chief operating officer, called the actions in the video “shocking and completely unacceptable.” 
 
 “In-N-Out Burger never has and never will condone such inhumane treatment of animals,” Taylor said. 
 
 The Irvine burger company said it has “no contractual relationship” with Bettencourt and instead buys cheese from an international cheese supplier based in Wisconsin. 
 
 The supplier buys cheese from a bulk cheese manufacturer that uses milk from Bettencourt, according to Taylor. 
 
 “We will take appropriate action, up to and including termination of a supplier if we determine that any business in our chain of supply has failed to meet our requirements,” the In-N-Out statement said. 
 
 Wendy’s also said it was “appalled” by the video, according to a company statement. The fast food chain said it has a similar relationship with Bettencourt to In-N-Out's. 
 
 “We have instructed Wendy’s supplier to disassociate with Bettencourt immediately,” the company said. 
 
 [Updated, Oct. 11, 10:15 a.m.: The restaurant chains said they were told about the video and allegations late Monday. MFA said it had an undercover investigator at the dairy facility from July 29 through August 17. 
 
 The animal advocacy group contacted authorities next and said it waited to release the video publicly “in order to give law enforcement and the Idaho Department of Agriculture ample time to complete its investigation.”] 
 
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 Spam maker Hormel to treat its pigs better 
 
 McDonald's wants better treatment for pregnant pigs 
 
 McDonald's pork provider Smithfield pledges gestation crate phase-out
– Yet another tough-to-stomach video is out detailing the abuse of animals in the fast-food industry, this time at a huge dairy farm in Idaho. The video by Mercy for Animals shows workers at Bettencourt Dairies punching, kicking, dragging, and stomping on cows, reports the Miami Herald. Because Burger King gets some of its cheese from the dairy, the group singled out the chain: “The secret ingredient in Burger King’s cheese is horrific animal abuse,” says its director. “No socially responsible corporation should support dairy operations that beat, kick, mutilate, confine and neglect animals.” The Humane Society called the video "reprehensible," but did not gang up on Burger King, asserting that it has done more to improve animal welfare over the last decade than any other restaurant chain. BK, meanwhile, promises to take quick action. The dairy immediately fired five workers, three of whom face animal cruelty charges, and made all of its workers watch the video and sign a zero-tolerance policy on animal cruelty, reports CNN. "We are all devastated by it," says the owner. "We are family-owned and we love our cattle." The dairy supplies other big names, including In-N-Out Burger and Wendy's, notes the Los Angeles Times.