We first met him in March when he was separated from his herd. Taken to the hospital pen, his back foot was very lame. Weeks later, in May, he had become emaciated and less mobile. He was still moved around by workers. They showed him no compassion. His day-to-day agony was clear. He had an open wound on his leg, which we filmed for weeks and which seemed to go untreated. In June, he was hunched – a clear sign of discomfort and pain – and had declined in health.
“He has his head low and his back arched to accommodate for the lameness. Once again, the duration of the lameness is concerning. If treatment is being given, it is clearly not working.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
His back right foot was swollen and unable to bear any weight. Straining and wincing, walking through the hospital pen was painful and arduous for him. He held his leg up most of the time while he was standing. It took him nearly three minutes to cover just a two-metre distance. On June 2nd, we again saw him struggling to traverse the mounds of faeces in the pen to get to the water trough. We saw Barney over many weeks, and his hooves were overgrown and his swollen foot became worse and very red.
“This animal struggles to walk around the pen, which is dirty and has no clean/dry bedding to lie down on. After one month in this condition you would need to consider whether any treatment given is actually working, or whether the condition can actually be treated at all.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
Both of his front feet were tender and he was unable to bear any weight without pain. In May, his feet continued to worsen as his hooves were never trimmed. It was distressing to watch Humphrey, who struggled to even take a few steps. He needed medical intervention, yet we did not witness this the entire time we were filming. By June, he was covered in faeces, likely due to his spending much of his time lying down, as standing was simply too unbearable.
“The fact that he was in this condition for three months suggests that treatment was unsuccessful or never attempted. Three months of marked lameness is a welfare concern…the animal was forced to endure months of suffering.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
He was originally in a pen with other ‘healthy’ cows. By May, he was lame on his back leg and his hooves were very overgrown. He was separated not long after, and put into the hospital pen. He struggled to keep up, even with the other lame cows. His back leg was incredibly painful, and he could barely rest it on the ground. He constantly flicked his leg up when it made contact with the built-up faeces on the ground. By the end of June, his hooves were still overgrown and he was even more lame. He was left in pain and misery for months due to lack of care and compassion. Bramble was filmed in the holding pen ready for the slaughter truck arriving on August 6.
“Four and a half months is an unacceptable duration of time for an animal to suffer with this degree of lameness. He has overgrown hooves on the right hind, either contributing to the lameness, or a sign of the duration of lameness.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
His back left foot was swollen, leaving him unable to walk without pain. It took him many minutes to simply walk over to the water trough. He was often spotted with Bramble, Barney and Clover. Throughout June, his foot was still swollen and painful.
“There is a marked diffuse swelling which is probably the cause of the lameness. This level of inflammation will be hugely painful and most likely caused by an initial injury. Six and a half weeks with this degree of lameness is a serious welfare concern.” – Molly Vasanthakumar, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery MRCVS
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