Bobby calf kill numbers declining
I think the vast majority of farmers are concerned about animal welfare and do not want to be associated with ill treatment ...
Andrew Knight
The numbers of bobby calves sent to slaughter at a few days old has fallen this year, with farming leaders crediting some of the decline to farmers wanting to move away from the controversial practice.
But that does not satisfy animal rights group Safe, which says that any cow-calf separation at a few days is distressing for the animals.
The Ministry for Primary Industries said the number of bobby calves killed between January and November this year was 1.69 million.
That compares with figures for 2008, 2015 and 2016 which were respectively 1.51 million, 2.17 million and 1.93 million.
Each year the number of calves born varies between 4.5 to 5 million.
Of those, about 40 per cent are bobby calves, 30 per cent are replacement calves and 30 per cent are reared for beef.
A small number - 31,000 in 2016 are used for pet food.
The drop of 240,000 between last year and this year might be accounted for in three ways: the nation’s herd has dwindled by 130,000 to June this year; buoyant beef prices have encouraged dairy farmers to rear bobby calves for beef; and a number of farmers unhappy with the industry’s image are deciding to stop sending bobbies to the freezing works.
Federated Farmers dairy group chairman Chris Lewis is convinced there has been a significant sea change in farmer attitude, but concedes they are also chasing high beef prices.
‘‘Farmers are putting more into bull beef, partly because of the prices, but others are making personal choices about trying to get fewer bobbies and changing their systems for the future,’’ he said.
Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare and Safe spokesman Andrew Knight said a recent survey commissioned by Safe showed 60 per cent of New Zealanders thought early slaughter of bobby calves was unacceptable, and 47 per cent did not trust the dairy industry to treat bobby calves humanely.
‘‘I think the vast majority of farmers are concerned about animal welfare and do not want to be associated with ill treatment, but the problem for us is there is an intrinsic inhumanity in the early separation of calves from their mothers,’’ he said.