Setting a shocking example...

[BobTheSmallholder]

I'm amazed this hasn't been posted yet... a horrible video even if it was recorded by vegan nutters. What a pathetic statement from the owners, denying all responsibility.

Cows sexually abused, hit and punched at farm owned by senior farmers' union official

Exclusive: Workers filmed attacking animals, swearing at them and touching them ‘in intimate areas’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

Ive watched it through twice, and the headline says sexual abuse, has that been edited out??

 

[Agriimark]

The staff need to be put in a holding pen and the same aproach applied to them. But that would not surfice im affraid. People like that should not be around animals of any kind and it is videos like that which make avererage joe think all farmers are the same.

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

I thought it was awful when I watched it the first time. There are plenty of things that look wrong, but I think that this is over two months. The handling system could be improved to make life better for the stockmen. Its easy to say its abuse, but if your 80kg versus 700gk you have to at least sound large. I absolutely don't think that hitting a cow on the nose is reasonable, but I invite the writer of the headline to take a tour of farms to see what goes on. Perhaps try for themselves, but see the love that we all have for our cows.

 

[John Slejpner]

I thought it was awful when I watched it the first time. There are plenty of things that look wrong, but I think that this is over two months. The handling system could be improved to make life better for the stockmen. Its easy to say its abuse, but if your 80kg versus 700gk you have to at least sound large. I absolutely don't think that hitting a cow on the nose is reasonable, but I invite the writer of the headline to take a tour of farms to see what goes on. Perhaps try for themselves, but see the love that we all have for our cows.

Well done for making a start Rod, i have been sat here for 30 minutes wondering where to begin having watch vid 3 times.

The sick sod sexually messing with the cows...presumably never pulled that stunt in front of co-workers never mind senior management. How the hell is anyone supposed to "manage" that situation? OK so he is sacked.

Dead calves - it does occasionally happen that calves don't make it to maturity. A percent or two. So someone lifts dead calf out of hutch and puts it down awaiting the approved teleporter bucket / trolley or whatever the protocol is. It might be lying there awhile esp if there is an important distraction like a calving or some such to attend to. And where is the vid of this anyway...

80kg humans trying to herd 700kg animals will involve a bit of physical persuasion. There is how i remember my dad and uncle doing it, and there is a sweary essex version of the same. You make shoes from a cows skin ! It takes a little to get their attention. The kicking out at the cows is very ignorant behaviour, especially around the snout as noted above, likely to be largely ineffective anyway, and looks awful...but the reality is 700kg with 4 leg drive will go where it wants to go, including turning on the staff if really bothered, lashing out a hind leg if really bothered.
The guy drumming on the cows back might as well be scratching the family cat behind the ear.
I'm not sure quite why there is so much effort to push the rear cows up into the stationary mob in front.

I loved the cows in the video. Clean, no limps or lame, shiny coats, tidy genetics, superb condition. Not a damn thing wrong with any of them.
Cows milk production is a function of diet and genetics and environment - they especially do not milk well when stressed. As bad as the vid might look to the inexperienced, my guess is that bunch of cows produces some huge amount of milk.

 

[Smith31]

When the public look at videos like this, is it any wonder becoming vegan is so popular?

The actions of a few bad farmers have a negative impact upon thousands.

 

[dinderleat]

A well edited video over 18months by nut jobs on a crusade to stop all dairy farming. Agree the use of the sticks is bad but when people are tired and stressed they tend to be on the edge. This video is not a true representation of the stockman ship on that farm. The sexual bit is taken out of context something to do with milk let down probably.

 

[Smith31]

A well edited video over 18months by nut jobs on a crusade to stop all dairy farming. Agree the use of the sticks is bad but when people are tired and stressed they tend to be on the edge. This video is not a true representation of the stockman ship on that farm. The sexual bit is taken out of context something to do with milk let down probably.

The milk from that farm will be sold as being produced to the highest animal welfare standards, so the consumer expects that. If it is was sold as milk produced from a farm with an odd animal welfare breach, it would maybe have less impact.

It's a bit like selling horse meat in beef meat packaging in reality, but the blame lays at the farmers door not the supermarkets. In these social media times there simply isn't any tolerance for mistakes.

 

[dinderleat]

The milk from that farm will be sold as being produced to the highest welfare standards, so the consumer expects that. If it is was sold as milk produced from a farm with an odd animal welfare breach, it would maybe have less impact.

It's a bit like selling horse meat in beef meat packaging in reality, but the blame lays at the farmers door not the supermarkets. In these social media times there simply isn't any tolerance for mistakes.

Illegally attained can not be used for prosecution, other wise these nut jobs would be breaking into every dairy farm to try and find something wrong. CCTV has been installed on the farm to comply with standards.

 

[dinderleat]

The milk from that farm will be sold as being produced to the highest welfare standards, so the consumer expects that. If it is was sold as milk produced from a farm with an odd animal welfare breach, it would maybe have less impact.

It's a bit like selling horse meat in beef meat packaging in reality, but the blame lays at the farmers door not the supermarkets. In these social media times there simply isn't any tolerance for mistakes.

Illegally attained can not be used for prosecution, other wise these nut jobs would be breaking into every dairy farm to try and find something wrong. CCTV will probably be installed on the farm to combat this video

 

[neilo]

Where’s the ‘sexual abuse’ & ‘touching them in intimate areas’, as I couldn’t see it in the video? Was it a cow being AI’ed, or milk let down being stimulated in a heifer?

It does seem odd kicking a cow on her hock to move her, if nothing else i’m Surprised he didn’t get kicked back. Most of what I saw though was cows getting slapped to move them in to the parlour and certainly not abuse.

Swearing around livestock is obviously totally unacceptable, and I can’t imagine ever hearing it on a farm, or any other workplace........

 

[Dry Rot]

More to the point, if that cowman was reading this thread, he might very well ask, "OK, so how would you do it better?".

I don't have cattle but I remember seeing a video about handling cattle and that got me looking at Youtube. The link below is just one I found and I am sure there are better ones out there. I do remember that cattle prefer to go up hill, like to follow a curve, and can be driven by flapping a piece of plastic at them better than with a stick.

As a young teenager (1950s) I used to frequent cattle markets and I still have vivid recollections of cattle being beaten around the head with inch thick hazel sticks brandished brutish yardsmen who were barely human. Some beasts would be bleeding from head wounds and with closed eyes. Thank god we have come a long way since then.

Forums like this have a lot to do with knowledge, learning, and peer pressure. Faced with the problem of having to move a lot of cattle (or even one!), I wouldn't know where to start. Another memory I have is of myself and a livestock lorry driver loading a reluctant bull onto a lorry by advancing towards it down a narrow lane with a steel gate. How we did not end up like a couple of hard boiled eggs going through an egg slicer, I will never know!

So, how would you do it and has this video got anything to offer to UK dairying?

 

[Scholsey]

How many people farming livestock on a commercial scale be it cattle sheep or pigs can honestly hold their hands up and say they and none of their staff have never done something shown in this video?

I am not condoning everything in this video at all and sounds like guilty parties have been reprimanded/dismissed.

The cows in that video were cleaner and better fleshed than probably 95% of dairy cows in the country!

The sexual assault claims are absolute garbage if you make the effort and watch the whole video on the website the lad was scratching the top of her udder cleft, obviously a tame, favourite cow, anyone who thinks a cow has a vulva down there is a complete moron and as deluded as the people who have produced this video.

One day a farmer is going to kill themselves over footage like this or unknowingly encounter a camouflaged/balaclava wearing animal rights radical in the dead of night checking a close to calving heifer and be seriously hurt/killed could be your wife/mother/son.

It’s that earthling Ed idiot doing this, financed by milk alternative companies to denounce the dairy industry further.

 

[Werzle]

I'm amazed this hasn't been posted yet... a horrible video even if it was recorded by vegan nutters. What a pathetic statement from the owners, denying all responsibility.

Cows sexually abused, hit and punched at farm owned by senior farmers' union official

Exclusive: Workers filmed attacking animals, swearing at them and touching them ‘in intimate areas’

www.independent.co.uk

Non story for me from that vid, see more tail twisting at a cattle show. Cant see how a few dead calves rotting is animal abuse, if you keep livestock you have deadstock. Mood music played over it which tries to make it dramatic.One chap plays pat-a-cake on a cows back, shock horror.

 

[Clive]

Stuff like this just puts bullets in their guns doesn’t it !

Given the profile of the farms owner (Assuming reporting is accurate) it really does look VERY bad

 

[Smith31]

Stuff like this just puts bullets in their guns doesn’t it !

Given the profile of the farms owner (Assuming reporting is accurate) it really does look VERY bad

He should do the honurable thing and resign it brings his union into disrepute.

If such abuse was witnessed on the cctv system of an abattoir, the owners would be looking at a fine of tens of thousands of pounds, the employee would be sacked.

For all those farmers stating it's only a bit of kicking are naive, if this continues I can see compulsory veterinary presence / inspections at most farms like we have in abattoirs at £60 an hour charged to the farmer.

 

[Clive]

He should do the honurable thing and resign it brings his union into disrepute.

If such abuse was witnessed on the cctv system of an abattoir, the owners would be looking at a fine of tens of thousands of pounds, the employee would be sacked.

For all those farmers stating it's only a bit of kicking are naive, if this continues I can see compulsory veterinary presence / inspections at most farms like we have in abattoirs at £60 an hour charged to the farmer.

I feel very sorry for Guy - it must be terrible to be involved in anything like this and victim of hidden cameras etc. We must remember it’s not him in the videos and I’m sure he was unaware of what was going on within his business

but as a director of a company the buck and responsibility does stop with you and passing blame to others just digs deeper holes

 

[Scholsey]

He should do the honurable thing and resign it brings his union into disrepute.

If such abuse was witnessed on the cctv system of an abattoir, the owners would be looking at a fine of tens of thousands of pounds, the employee would be sacked.

For all those farmers stating it's only a bit of kicking are naive, if this continues I can see compulsory veterinary presence / inspections at most farms like we have in abattoirs at £60 an hour charged to the farmer.

And what do you do?

I feel very sorry for Guy - it must be terrible to be involved in anything like this and victim of hidden cameras etc. We must remember it’s not him in the videos and I’m sure he was unaware of what was going on within his business

but as a director of a company the buck and responsibility does stop with you and passing blame to others just digs deeper holes

Would you have distanced yourself from all your other businesses and media commitments if your bowser (which obviously wasn’t road worthy which would have been your responsibility) went over the bridge and killed a coach load of school kids?

 

[Clive]

And what do you do?


Would you have distanced yourself from all your other businesses and media commitments if your bowser (which obviously wasn’t road worthy which would have been your responsibility) went over the bridge and killed a coach load of school kids?

odd question., I would have had to take responsibility obviously

 

[Headless chicken]

The thing I find most concerning here is these peoples opinion that it’s acceptable for them to come onto private property and take recording and store them for weeks.
My children are frequently with me on the farm. If this were my far my first issue was what they were doing obtaining images of my children without my consent!
There are issues raised In this video but they are tiny in comparison to this incredible breach of privacy.