Few farmers killing bobby calves
A minority of dairy farmers are choosing to kill unwanted bobby calves on farms themselves rather than meet new rules introduced today to house and load them alive before their collection.
The carcasses are then picked up by tannery companies whereas live calves are transported to meat processing companies or calf growers.
Killing healthy male bobby calves is legal under the Animal Welfare Act, which highlights the guidelines for the humane slaughter of livestock.
Under the legislation, calves must be rendered immediately insensible and remain in that state until death is confirmed. The person responsible for their destruction must be properly trained and calves cannot be killed by ‘‘blunt force trauma’’ caused by a blow to the head, except in unexpected situations.
Dairynz animal behaviour and welfare specialist Dr Jenny Jago said nationally about 3 per cent of farmers had chosen to euthanise their surplus calves and Dairynz would monitor this for changes. Most farmers who had built or had altered their calf loading facilities to comply with the new rules found it relatively straightforward and not cost prohibitive, she said.
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Chris Lewis said whether a law change was needed to make it illegal for farmers to kill healthy bobby calves was an industry debate that had to happen. ‘‘It’s been talked about at the highest level.’’ That had to include discussions around industry perception and reputation. New regulations around calf welfare are due to come into effect today and include the need for adequate loading and unloading facilities and shelter requirements before and during transport. The maximum time off feed before slaughter was now 24 hours. All calves which are dead or condemned on arrival or in a yard will have autopsies carried out to find the cause of death.
The Ministry for Primary Industries said, in a statement, its focus was on ensuring that calf disposal was done in the most humane way possible. ‘‘The primary aim for the farmer must be to bring about death swiftly, with minimum pain, suffering and distress for the animal.’’ More than half of the calves born on dairy farms are reared as dairy heifers, breeding bulls or for beef.
Lewis said he knew of some farmers who had tried shooting calves but soon stopped because of its impact on their mental health. It posed a different mindset to disposing of a sick calf because mentally it was easier to justify. He said most farmers had made the necessary upgrades to comply with the law.