Some farmers separate the calves to reduce trauma, prevent disease and increase the milk supply from the cow, but opponents say it is inhumane.
Professor Dan Weary, from the University of British Columbia, surveyed 163 people about the issue.
He found vets uniformly supported the practice, consumers and activists opposed it, while farmers were divided.
«People are dissatisfied with this idea that we’re doing something which seems very unnatural — taking a baby away from its mother in the first few hours of its life, and that we need to have awful good reasons for doing that,» Professor Weary said.
«We’ve sort of convinced ourselves these reasons are good, but when we come back and drill down … we find that in some cases the research is lacking.»
Professor Weary said the research to support separation often was not there, and putting calves on an artificial colostrum feeding regime was one example of a practice that was not supported by science.
«We often do a less good job than what the cow would do,» he said.}
Another big issue in Australia and New Zealand is the fate of male «bobby» calves in the dairy production system.
They do not produce milk, so they are usually destroyed or sold to processors to make veal.
Professor Weary said it was an example of an issue the industry needed to focus on, because it was hard for the public to understand why it was happening.
«What, we have this production system which is dependent on killing half the calves that are born?» he said.
«That’s pretty hard for people to take, and I think we need to be taking this more seriously in terms of coming up with systems that can avoid that.»
Professor Weary said the use of sexed semen to get a highly directed crop of heifers may be a way to minimise the problem, while other calves could be cross-bred to beef sires to produce higher value beef animals.
Ag gag laws may make issues worse
In another study, Professor Weary informed people about ‘ag gag’ laws and then asked them what they thought about farmers and animal welfare in the dairy industry.
Sixteen states in the United States have enacted or considered laws that make it illegal to film activity on farms without the consent of their owner.
New South Wales has similar ag gag laws in place, and there are moves to establish the laws nationally.
Professor Weary said the laws may be doing more damage than the campaigns they were designed to inhibit.
«Just knowing about this policy … makes people think more negatively about us and the standard of care for the animals on those farms,» he said.
«That’s why it’s important that we have glass walls, that we invite people to see our farms, to show the distinction between what is commonly accepted good practices and the «bad apple» events we see on the videos.
«This will allow us to get better at calling a spade a spade on these sorts of issues.»
Source: ABC
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-21/consumers-question-calf-separation-practice/8043562
