Mart-goers agree mistreatment of calves seen on RTÉ ‘unacceptable’

BY EIMEAR O'DWYER

IN the wake of RTÉ journalist Fran McNulty’s investigation into Ireland’s dairy industry last week, farmers and mart workers at Skibbereen Mart spoke to The Southern Star. 

At a busy Skibbereen mart last Friday, there was total consensus among farmers and workers that the cruel treatment of calves on the RTÉ investigation was unacceptable. 

One mart worker said that he hasn’t come across any of this behaviour and another said that 99% of farmers are very good at their jobs and treat their animals with care.

At Friday’s mart the calves were looked after well with straw beds, food, water and adequate space in the pens. In the ring where the calves are sold, sticks were not in evidence and the animals seemed to be treated in a respectful manner by all staff. 

The RTÉ investigation showed mart workers in Bandon and other mart areas (not Skibbereen) grabbing, slapping, kicking and throwing calves. On the programme, sticks were also used on calves that were under 42 days old — a clear breach of EU law. 

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said the footage shown represented the actions of a few. ‘What we saw was utterly unacceptable, and in some instances, was unlawful,’ he added.  

A mart worker in Skibbereen said that Department of Agriculture inspectors are in attendance at the mart most weeks and also carry out inspections on trucks that export the animals. 

Another issue highlighted on the programme was unlawful calf export practices. 

The animals should be fed and rested after a maximum of nine hours of travelling, according to EU law. These rules were clearly flouted by the company the RTÉ reporter followed. 

However, many farmers at the mart highlighted the importance of calf exports and explained that there is a demand for bull calves in other European countries such as the Netherlands, where there is a strong veal market. Whereas, in Ireland, bull calves are often an unwanted biproduct of the dairy industry. 

In order to protect smaller farmers in particular, it is fundamental that this export market continues, another farmer at Skibbereen mart explained. 

Over 200,000 calves are exported annually, and this export market is valued at €170m.

A dairy farmer at the mart noted that they had been encouraged by the government to invest a lot into their business, with initiatives such as the 2020 Food Harvest action plan. 

This initiative sought to increase milk production by 50% by 2020 following the abolition of dairy quotas in 2015.  The agricultural census recorded 1,567,681 dairy cows in Ireland in 2020 following this call for expansion. 

On the programme the reporter said that expansion targets have led to a 68% growth in the dairy industry in recent years with 10% of the world’s infant formula produced in Ireland, and one quarter of the national herd farmed in Cork.