Arrest warrants out for Larson workers.

Arrest warrants were issued Thursday for dairy workers in the abuse of cows that was captured on undercover video.

The Okeechobee County Sheriff ’s Office said Thursday that warrants were issued and suspects being sought in the case of workers videotaped punching, kicking and beating cows with metal bars at Larson Dairy Farm.

A detective met with state prosecutors Thursday to go over the evidence, and warrants were issued, according to a statement from the sheriff ’s office.

The statement did not say how many workers were being sought or the exact charges. It said no further information would be released at that time.

The abuse was captured on video taken by an undercover worker for Animal Recovery Mission, a Miami Beach group that has infiltrated illegal slaughterhouses and other places where animals were allegedly being harmed. The video led to the farm being placed on probation by the national dairy trade group and prompted the sheriff’s office to announce a criminal investigation.

But Sheriff Noel Stephen said last week that he knew the Larson family well and doubted they knew about the abuse, saying it was likely confined to the employees on the floor.

Richard Couto, founder and lead investigator for Animal Recovery Mission, has said this appeared to indicate bias and was unlikely to be true, because the abusive practices appeared to be routine.

Jacob Larson, the farm’s owner, issued a statement at the time the video was made public, saying:

“We are deeply saddened and appalled” by the abuse in the video and saying the dairy has “strict protocols involving animal care and clearly the behavior shown in this video goes against everything we stand for and will not be tolerated.”