Scandal of pedigree cows whose udders are pumped full of gas -- then glued up
FARMERS desperate to win lucrative cattle show prizes are causing severe pain to their animals – by pumping their udders full of gas.
Experts say the use of the bizarre technique – used to improve a cow’s appearance by making the udder look full – has spiralled to the point it has become a ‘serious problem’.
Once the udder has been inflated, the animal’s teats are then sealed with superglue to stop milk, or the gas, leaking out.
There is ferocious competition to win agricultural prizes because champion animals are highly prized for breeding and can fetch as much as £100,000 at auction.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has now vowed to prosecute exhibitors found to be in breach of welfare laws.
The RSPCA is also ready to investigate any complaint with a view to bringing a criminal case to court. Anyone found guilty will face up to six months in prison, a £5,000 fine and a possible lifelong ban on keep- ing animals. No prosecutions have so far taken place, but surveillance is being stepped up at shows. Prizewinning animals are to be checked for evidence of tampering.
David Martin, a farm animal vet, spoke out about the practice at a British Veterinary Association (BVA)
‘Animals are left like this for up to 24 hours’
conference in London last week. Mr Martin said: ‘Filling udders with gas is becoming a serious problem.
‘When an udder becomes full it will cause severe discomfort. We think that cows are being left like that for 12 to 24 hours.’
BVA president Carl Padgett is to meet breeders and show organisers to discuss routine ultrasound scanning of cattle at shows and changes in how they are judged. He said: ‘It means a change of mindset, but why do cows have to show huge udders to be champions?’
Previous attempts to stop the practice – which has spread from North America – have divided the farming community.
In September last year, the Royal Association for British Dairy Farmers implemented a new rule banning the sealing of teats at a show in Birmingham. However, when judges at the show told owners of Holstein cows with sealed teats to withdraw their animals or face being kicked out of the competition, a group of exhibitors threatened to walk out.
The association caved in to their demands, but the U-turn incensed other farmers and vets.
In October, a farmer was caught out after he had won the top prize at an agricultural competition in the South West. He was discovered after a complaint by another exhibiting farmer, following which a vet confirmed that the teats of the prizewinning cow had been sealed.
The breeder, who has not been named, lost his prize and was suspended by the UK Jersey Cattle Society from exhibiting his animals until 2013. Other breed societies, including Holstein UK, have also revised their rules to make it clear that these practices are banned.
Roger Trewhella, spokesman for the Jersey Cattle Society, whose 650 members own 35,000 Jersey cows, said: ‘We take this issue very seriously and this is why we have disciplined a member.’
Alick Simmons, the Government’s deputy chief vet, said: ‘This practice is totally unacceptable.’