Animal Justice released a video of animal abuse at a British Columbia dairy farm that has resulted in the marketing board immediately suspending its licence.
It has launched its own investigation. Animal Justice called in the B.C. Society for the Protection of Animals which is also investigating.
“The treatment of animals shown in the video is abuse. It is extremely upsetting to watch,” said Holger Schwichtenberg, a dairy farmer and chairman of BC Dairy’s board of directors.
“I am a dairy farmer myself, and I don’t know any dairy farmer who would accept this behaviour from anyone on their farm. We have a strong set of regulations for the care of animals on dairy farms, and this falls well outside our expectations,” he said.
The treatment of dairy cows shown in the video clearly violates the National Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, which is mandatory for all dairy farms in BC, the marketing board said.
Dairy farmers take this very seriously. The Code was developed jointly by industry, the federal government, veterinarians, and animal welfare researchers, and covers all aspects of feeding, handling and housing of dairy cattle in detail, it said.
