Friday, March 29, 2024

Calf workshops prompt visits

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Officials from the Primary Industries Ministry will visit 1200 dairy farms this year to familiarise farmers with their responsibilities for the handling and management of bobby calves. The move was one initiative to emerge from the eight-organisation Bobby Calf Action Group convened late last year to improve best-practice handling of calves.
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MPI regulation and assurance deputy director-general Scott Gallacher said the group was tasked with ensuring people handling bobby calves followed best practice so the public could be confident calves were given the right level of care.

Other initiatives included DairyNZ working with dairy companies and farmers to ensure autumn-born calves were handled according to welfare guidelines and calf-handling workshops in May and June for farm staff.

DairyNZ was also working with farmers and transport operators to develop agreed practical advice and guidelines to ensure calves were fit for transporting while the Road Transport Forum was developing and updating its handling and transport guidelines.

MPI was also proposing new regulations on the care and handling of bobby calves following two workshops with industry and animal welfare groups. They would be available for public consultation in April.

In addition MPI spent $250,000 on a scientific assessment on the state of calf welfare from data collected in the last two seasons on which it could base decisions about calf management.

The Meat Industry Association was working with processors to ensure welfare responsibilities were understood and the Petfood Manufacturers Association was reviewing its code of practice.

MPI had also initiated an animal welfare awareness campaign to encourage the reporting of any mistreatment of stock.

BLOB MPI has laid charges against an individual in relation to an investigation into animal welfare offences involving bobby calves.

The investigation began in September 2015 when MPI received many hours of filmed footage containing alleged offences involving bobby calves in Waikato.

Charges were filed at Huntly District Court under the Animal Welfare Act.

Gallacher said the investigation had been careful and methodical and ias ongoing.

MPI investigators were actively pursuing other lines of inquiry and, as the matters were under investigation, MPI was unable to comment any further.

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