Meyenberg is the largest goat milk producer in the United States, processing roughly 25 million pounds of goat milk a year for sale at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, Kroger, and other major grocery chains. Every Meyenberg carton sold in the U.S. carries the "Certified Humane" label, and the company markets its product as "America's Favorite Goat Milk." Meyenberg states that it sources from 25 Certified Humane partner dairies in California.

One of those partner dairies is Vera Goat Dairy in Stratford, Kings County. This is a massive goat operation that has been the subject of a months-long investigation by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE).

What the investigation found

Vera Goat Dairy, formerly operating under the name Milk Flow Dairy, was cited by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2021 for improperly disposing of deceased animals on the property. DxE's investigation documented that the violation never stopped. Across multiple visits over several months in 2025, investigators using drone surveillance documented an ongoing dead pile on the property, with dozens of mother and baby goats.

Investigators collected two deceased goat kids from the dead pile and submitted them for independent necropsy. The tests found:

• Coccidia parasites
• Bacterial bronchopneumonia, most likely caused by Escherichia coli
• "Marked emaciation" with "no fat reserves and severe muscle atrophy"

Drone footage from the same investigation documented cattle grazing on a recently covered dead pile and dogs on the property feeding on the bodies of the dead goats — both of which create vectors for disease transmission back into the milking herd and out to neighboring operations.

Investigators also documented mother goats with inflamed, swollen udders, a condition that makes it difficult for kids to nurse. When kids cannot nurse adequately in their first hours of life, they fail to receive the colostrum that delivers passive immunity, and they become highly susceptible to exactly the kind of respiratory and intestinal disease the necropsies found.

Vera Goat Dairy | Kings County

A DxE attorney reported the investigation's findings, including the necropsy results and the ongoing illegal dead pile, to the relevant county and state agencies and to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. No enforcement action was taken against Vera Goat Dairy. Law enforcement denied the presence of dead animals on the property.

Two kids removed for veterinary care

In May 2025, following these fruitless reports to law enforcement, DxE investigators removed two visibly sick baby goats from the facility and brought them to a veterinarian. The veterinarian confirmed respiratory infection and conjunctivitis in both kids, described them as "emaciated," and noted overgrown hooves. The two kids were named Phoebe and Celia. They survived after receiving veterinary care.

In March 2026, the Kings County District Attorney charged four DxE investigators with felony grand theft of livestock, felony conspiracy, and misdemeanor trespass in connection with the rescue. Together, the charges carry a maximum sentence of six and a half years in prison. DxE asserts that citizens have a legal right to provide aid to animals suffering unlawful neglect when authorities decline to act.

The label and the supply chain

Meyenberg products sold at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, and other major retailers carry the "Certified Humane" label, and the company describes its partner dairies as adhering to "strict guidelines to ensure the goats are humanely cared for." The conditions DxE documented at Vera include chronic emaciation, untreated disease, mothers unable to nurse, and dozens of bodies in an illegal dead pile that authorities have known about since 2021.

Beneath the labels, which include claims of wholesomeness and certifications that the goats are treated humanely, are piles of deceased mothers and babies. The system is designed to capitalize on the compassion of consumers while the companies betray their responsibility to care for animals.

Meyenberg is not transparent about where its 25 goat dairies are. You can find the two we have numbers for below, or the four we do not by adjusting the filters