Footage which appears to show Irish calves being beaten and kicked at a French feeding station has been published by animal campaign groups, reports The Guardian.
The video, published by Eyes on Animals (EoA) and French welfare organisation L214, appears to show workers repeatedly beating calves that are a few weeks old with sticks. One is kicked and another is dragged away, unable to stand. The calf was euthanised by a vet, said an EoA observer.
Ireland’s dairy sector, which earned the country €4.4bn (£3.9bn) in export revenues last year, relies heavily on veal farms in mainland Europe to buy unwanted male dairy calves. Dairy cows must produce calves in order to continue producing milk, but male calves are no use to the industry: they are known as “shipping-calves” in the Irish agricultural press.
The latest figures from Ireland’s national agricultural body, Teagasc, show there are just over 1.4 million dairy cows in Ireland this year, each of which will calve once, producing approximately 700,000 male calves. Figures from the agriculture ministry show almost 247,000 cattle were exported from the country in 2018.
Last month animal welfare campaigners followed calf trucks from the Irish port of Rosslare to the French port of Cherbourg. They documented a number of welfare and transport infractions.