Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
A South Auckland dairy farmer has been fined $3,250 for unlawfully amputating the teats of seven cows using rubber rings as a tourniquet.
Pieter Nicholaas Smit, 60, was sentenced at the Morrinsville District Court for one representative animal welfare charge, after earlier pleading guilty. The case was brought to court by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
MPI Animal Welfare and National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) regional compliance manager, Brendon Mikkelsen, says Smit failed to provide appropriate care to the animals.
“Teat removal is a significant surgical procedure. It should be undertaken by a veterinarian using anaesthesia.”
An animal welfare inspector visited Smit’s property at Waiuku on May 20, 2020, after a complaint was made.
He admitted to using the rubber rings on the cows when mastitis did not clear up after treatment with antibiotics. The offending occurred over a five-year period.
Teat removal is not a treatment for mastitis, and the practice is opposed by experienced veterinarians.
“In New Zealand, everyone must take responsibility for animal welfare. We strongly encourage any member of the public who is aware of ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 00 83 33”,” says Mikkelsen.
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…