All of this information is taken from SAFE.org.nz

Denied their mothers and right to life, the fate of the calves born to dairy cows is one of the dairy industry's dirty secrets.

For the purpose of producing milk, cows need to be kept continually pregnant and give birth, but once their calves are born there is no further use for many of them. They are treated as mere waste products with little or no attention given to their welfare. Shockingly, there are around two million calves killed soon after birth every year in New Zealand.

The Fate of Calves
In nature, calves would naturally suckle five to eight times a day for the first few weeks and stay with their mothers for up to two years. However, calves born into the dairy industry are removed from their mothers soon after birth and either slaughtered, raised to be sold as veal or beef and if female, kept to replace their worn-out mothers in the herd.

Male calves raised for veal are kept in paddocks or sheds and fed from mechanical feeders. They are killed after only a few months of life.

Because cattle raised for meat and milk are different breeds there is not a high demand for the meat from dairy calves so many go straight to slaughter. These calves are known as ‘bobby calves'. Each year, death is the fate of millions of just-born bobby calves in New Zealand. This does not include calves killed on "homekills" or aborted calves.

On a Road to Nowhere
There is little money in bobby calves, some are sold to pet food manufacturers for as litle as one dollar, so the industry wants to get rid of these animals as soon as possible. Although bobby calves must be at least four days old and in good condition before being sent to slaughter, some farmers still present weak and listless calves, so young they still have wet navels. These fragile, vulnerable calves are often weak from lack of food and the long journey to the slaughterhouse.

Like all young animals, they are often confused and bewildered and are simply too young to handle the stress, motion and length of transport.

Grieving Mothers
Milk production is a nightmare cows can never wake up from. Can you imagine taking a crying baby from his or her mother?

Cows, like humans, are pregnant for nine months and they too bond strongly with their babies. But those in the dairy industry are destined to never be together. Cows grieve for their lost calves and it is common on dairy farms to hear the sad bellowing of mothers calling for their lost babies for weeks. This is the reality of dairy, where animals are treated as a commodity.

---I can't believe that I never knew this, it had never occurred to me that of course in order to produce milk, these animals need to have offspring. Imagine having carried a baby for 9 months and to have it ripped away from you only hours after giving birth. The confusion, the grief and imagine it for the innocent baby and what they feel. Now imagine being forced to do this year in and year out, the trauma of going through this never ending cycle of immense pain and grief. And again, for the innocent calf, not only are they taken from their loving mother with absolutely no idea what is going on but before they are slaughtered, they are abused and cruelly mistreated. This needs to stop and after the expose on this in NZ, I believe that "Down Cow" a pet food manufacturing company needs to hold themselves and their employees accountable for their disgusting actions. This is clearly animal abuse and it will not stand.

http://safe.org.nz/nz-dairy-industry-exposed

Please support this petition. Not only will it help keep people informed and educated on what is happening under the radar in the NZ Dairy Industry, it will also aid to keep these companies like "Down Cow" held accountable for their actions and the actions of their employees. This petition will also keep the pressure on the Ministry of Primary Industries to up their standards, regulations, punishments and mandatory checks on these farmers, slaughterhouses and transportation services. And hopefully a dedicated Animal Welfare service can be created for issues such as this.

We as the public have a say and we need to make sure these companies are held accountable by all of us.

Please sign. Let us be the change that we want to see in the world.