It is well known that male calves are traditionally a by-product of the dairy industry. Animal Justice Project has not only filmed their slaughter, but also their fattening on a Red Tractor Assured 'beef' ‘mega-farm’ in Northamptonshire, Berryfields. Additionally, our team filmed at Badgers Cross. Owned by an ex-pig farmer, this industrial-scale rearing farm supplies Waitrose, confining up to 1,100 calves at a time and 'raising' 4,500 calves each year.
The integration of dairy and beef industries — the raising of young steers from dairy farms for beef — has been labelled a ‘kinder option’ than slaughter. Our FIVE month investigation at Berryfields, which documented the sending of cows to slaughterhouses supplying major supermarkets and chains such as Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons, Ocado, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Burger King, Wetherspoons, ASDA and Co-op, revealed a very different reality.
Calves at Badgers Cross were starved of their mothers’ nutritious milk since they were given milk only once a day. No second feed was given, even though calves would naturally suckle throughout the day.
Each day we saw workers hitting, slapping, kicking and dragging calves by their legs; even the owner of the facility was seen hitting calves. The fragile and distressed babies were shown no mercy. They cried out for their mothers.
“Our members include award-winning farmers who share our priorities to strive for the very best in animal health and well-being.” - Red Tractor
Hidden-camera footage recorded by Animal Justice Project investigators over five months at Berryfields Farm reveals horrific animal suffering and neglect.
Inside this farm, young cows endured abuse, neglect, and dire conditions. Watch Animal Justice Project’s hidden-camera footage.
Hit, kicked and slapped. Left in filthy sheds, lame and with grossly overgrown hooves. 4,500 cows a year slaughtered from just 12 months old. The suffering we filmed at this farm was abhorrent and heart breaking. The cows’ day-to-day misery was clear. This will never be the ‘kinder option’.
These included dire handling and aggressive management (cows were beaten with pipes, kicked, had their tails twisted, and one had a bucket thrown in their face). All caught on our cameras. Workers failed to prevent or treat severe lameness, left cows in the hospital pen to languish, subjected cows to slippery walkways which resulted in their falling and slamming onto the floor, and moving cows unable to bear weight on all four legs.
This was a zero-grazing farm – despite being surrounded by green fields. Instead, they were forced to live their whole lives in filthy concrete pens with no bedding. They slept on mounds of faeces and most had no shelter. They were fed high concentrate feed, which is associated with issues including fast-growing hooves.
“The layout of this zero-graze system [was] entirely inappropriate, the stocking density [was] too high and there [was] little shade on the concrete yards.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
The sick, lame and those in desperate need of care were dumped. These cows received no meaningful ‘care’, and were left to languish, sometimes for months on end. They were barely even observed by workers, despite their having severely impaired mobility causing falls and the inability to even get up. The animals suffered with swollen joints, gunky eyes, cuts on their thighs and legs and excruciatingly overgrown hooves. Many struggled to even reach water.
The roof had large holes so rain poured directly into the shed. Their drinker was contaminated and overflowed like the guttering, creating vast areas of slurry that were difficult for these lame cows to walk through. The number of distressed, lame cows was astonishing. Many were unable to put weight on all of their legs, it was simply too painful. Lame cows were even loaded into trailers for slaughter – yet another regulation breach.
“I was concerned to see significant numbers of severely lame cattle. Several were non-weight bearing on affected limbs, indicating the most severe category of lameness. This is extremely painful for affected cows. It was disturbing to see sodden, filthy flooring, on which these cattle were forced to subsist. Cattle were even observed standing in pools of slurry. Very concerning was the abuse by workers evident in this video footage. A bucket was violently thrown at a cow’s face, animals were struck with plastic piping, and subjected to swearing and yelling.” – Prof Andrew Knight, EBVS European and RCVS Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law
One of the cows, who we named Bramble, had overgrown hooves and was severely lame on his back leg. We first met Bramble in March, and during the five months of our investigation, we did not see any apparent medical intervention or effective treatment given to him. He became increasingly lame over this time. On August 6, we saw him in a waiting pen, ready to be loaded up for slaughter. He was shockingly left to suffer in agony for FIVE months. The mistreatment and abuse that Bramble faced flouts DEFRA regulations.
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Animals were kicked, punched, slapped, hit with sticks and one had a bucket thrown in their face. Gates and bars were slammed onto their delicate legs and backs. They were verbally abused on a daily basis, with workers shouting and swearing to scare them into moving – much of the time the cows had nowhere to escape. The cows were often highly distressed and panicked.
“The handling of cattle in this video is extremely distressing. Cows are pushed through an old crush whilst being slapped by farm workers, jabbed with pipes, shouted at, kicked and having their tails twisted. This handling causes fear and pain for animals. This physical abuse is totally unacceptable. The majority of the lame cows in these videos are a 3 on a AHDB Mobility Score chart – which means the cows required urgent veterinary treatment and should have been housed on straw.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
This life is not a ‘kinder option’ for any individual. The fate of these male dairy calves is a year-long life of misery. DAIRY = BEEF. The two industries are no longer independent. We are working to stop the injustices that happen every day to animals like the cows at Berryfields. Support Animal Justice Project by sharing our work. Use your power as a consumer by ditching dairy, beef and all animal products.
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