In Australia approximately 800 000 bobby calves are sent to slaughter each year because they are not wanted by the dairy industry.  Within 12 hrs of being born they are taken from their mums, then at age 4+ days old these newborns are trucked to slaughter. Bobby calves are newborn calves that are less than 2 weeks old and not with their mothers.

Products from processed newborn calves include young veal for human consumption, valuable hides for leather and byproducts for the pharmaceutical industry.

When transported from farms to saleyards and abattoirs, bobby calves are often treated terribly. Many newborn calves struggle to walk by themselves, which can frustrate handlers who have very little compassion for these animals. Calves are often pulled, dragged and thrown about during the farm to slaughter process.

BOBBY CALF TRANSPORT THE LAST 30HRS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5xdwrMRNXo

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF BOBBY CALVES SEE THE BELOW LINK:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-happens-to-bobby-calves_87.html

"Just when we thought the treatment of bobby calves couldn't get any worse"

The Australian dairy industry has stated that newborn calves deteriorate after being denied feed for up to 24hrs, so why is it supporting a proposal which will see newborn calves be kept off food for longer?

The dairy industry supports the proposal that the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Land Transport be amended, with the clause that bobby calves must be slaughtered or fed within 30 hours from last feed.

PLEASE SEE BELOW LINK:

http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Responsible-Dairying/Animal-welfare/Calf-welfare/Managing-bobby-calf-welfare/Handling-bobby-calves-during-transport.aspx

The below proposal is a summary of research commissioned by Dairy Australia and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (Fisher et. al. 2010, in preparation) to support the development of a science-based maximum time-off-feed (TOF) standard for bobby calves.

The Australian study was conducted in 2009/10 by Dr Andrew Fisher and colleagues from the University of Melbourne and the Animal Welfare Science Centre. It has provided data for Australian conditions.

The objectives of this experiment were:

1) to determine the welfare and metabolic state of 5- to 10-day-old dairy calves in response to increasing time off feed- up to 30 hours, in conjunction with three transport scenarios; and

2) to use these results to provide objective scientific evidence, along with the published New Zealand information, to support the Australian development of an appropriate standard for maximum permissible time–off-feed for the bobby calf supply chain.

VIEW PROPOSAL:

http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=0768923D-5056-8A5D-8761-C8DD4090ED25&siteName=aahc

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BELOW PUBLIC CONSULTATION HAS NOW CLOSED, WE NOW HAVE TO WAIT TO FIND OUT IF THE GOVERNMENT SHALL ACCEPT THIS CRUEL PROPOSAL...

A public consultation period is now underway into how long bobby calves can be off feed prior to slaughter.  Members of the public have until the 3rd of February 2011, to have their say on new standards. Now is our chance to speak out for these calves and we must take this opportunity to do exactly that.

The link below provides details on where to send your submission- it also provides a sample letter to guide you if you are finding it hard to write your own, but I encourage you to use your own words as it will carry more weight.

 http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/bobby-calf-public-consultation.php