Animal cruelty video triggers probe into New Zealand dairy farming

Animal welfare regulators on Monday launched an investigation into the brutal treatment of calves in the latest controversy to hit New Zealand's dairy industry.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed it had begun a probe into the treatment of bobby calves after video footage was broadcast showing the days-old animals being kicked, thrown and bashed prior to their slaughter.

Bobby calves are the offspring of dairy cows, which have to give birth about once a year to keep them in milk.

MPI deputy director general regulation and assurance Scott Gallacher said the nature of the footage was unacceptable.

"Anybody seeing this type of abuse would be appalled. We share that view," Gallacher said in a statement.

New Zealand had very clear laws and guidelines for how animals should be treated, he said.

The maximum penalty for wilful ill-treatment was five years in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 NZ dollars (65,510 U.S. dollars) for individuals and a maximum of 500,000 NZ dollars (327,450 U.S. dollars) for a company.

Dairy giant Fonterra said it was taking immediate steps to deal with unacceptable mistreatment of animals.

"While bobby calves will always be part of the dairy industry, they must be treated with care and respect. Behavior in this footage in no way represents the vast majority of New Zealand farmers who care about their animals," said a statement from the farmer-owned cooperative.

Farming industry groups also said they were appalled by the practices shown in the footage.

"We will be asking questions of everyone involved. Farmers don't see what goes on when calves leave their farm and we need to be holding the transport operators and processing plants to account to ensure bad practices get stamped out of our industry," DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said in a statement.

Opposition lawmakers said the video threatened the reputation of one of New Zealand's most important export industries.

"The footage is going to be beamed around the world. Calves being torn from their mothers, left in the hot sun for hours and being bludgeoned to death - is that what we really want New Zealand to be known for?" Green Party animal welfare spokesperson Mojo Mathers said in a statement.

"People around the world who we rely on to buy our milk and meat are going to be revolted by the way we treat our animals in New Zealand."

Animal advocacy groups Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE) and Farmwatch, which obtained the video with hidden cameras, called on New Zealand and international consumers to ditch dairy from their diets.

Each season more than 2 million unwanted bobby calves were killed as young as four days old, said SAFE executive director Hans Kriek.

"They are just waste products to the industry and are treated accordingly. These animals pay a heavy price for our insatiable appetite for dairy - and massive industry profit," Kriek said in a statement.

In recent weeks, environment campaigners have also questioned the New Zealand dairy industry's huge demand for palm kernel extract in light of the massive fires to clear land for palm plantations in Indonesia.

The industry is also widely considered as one of the main causes of the deterioration of New Zealand's fresh water quality in recent years. Endit