Arla suspends farmer after abuse footage from dairy farm

Arla has suspended a farmer and launched an investigation after undercover footage from one of its supplying dairy farm exposed animal cruelty.

The footage, filmed by the Animal Justice Project, shows cows being kicked, punched, and struck with bars and electric goads, and standing in ankle-deep water.

Injured cows were also filmed struggling to walk, which the Animal Justice Project suggests is in violation of animal transport laws.

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An Arla spokesperson said: “Animal welfare is of the utmost importance, and we take a zero-tolerance approach. We take any matters relating to this extremely seriously.

“The actions that are shown in this footage are completely unacceptable and do not meet the high standards that we expect from our farmers. The individuals in the video are no longer employed at the farm, however, Arla has taken the decision to suspend the farmer while we investigate this further.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we have already put a number of measures in place, alongside independent auditors and external standards organisations.”

Failings

The Animal Justice Project condemned the findings as “illegal, immoral, and evidence of the systemic failings of UK dairy”.

Alick Simmons, former UK government veterinary director, called the footage “deeply concerning,” noting that the excessive use of electric goads demonstrated a “complete disregard for animal welfare”.

Lowfields Farm is home to more than 2,000 zero-grazed dairy cows, producing about 273,000 litres of milk each week, and iis also a Red Tractor certified farm.

A spokesman for Red Tractor explained that, within eight hours of receiving the footage, an independent assessor was on the farm to investigate this “unacceptable behaviour by farm workers”.

“This inspection confirmed all individuals identified mistreating animals no longer work on the farm.

“To ensure the future welfare of animals, Red Tractor will require all those still working on the farm to complete additional training. Depending on the outcome of further investigation, the farm may also face other sanctions.”

For now, Lowfields Farm has not been suspended from the farm assurance scheme.