Violence and neglect discovered on dairy farm in South Wales 

Violence and neglect discovered on Welsh dairy farm linked to suppliers of Costa and British Airways

Monday 14th February, a leading international animal protection organisation, Animal Equality, released disturbing undercover footage of deliberate violence and neglect on Madox Farm in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, which holds over 650 cows and their calves. The farm is Red Tractor-certified.

Animal Equality’s investigator covertly filmed troubling scenes spanning several months, including a number of serious legal violations. The footage reveals workers kicking and punching cows in the face and stomach, and hitting them with sharp, metal shovels. It also shows cows unable to stand being lifted by their hips and dragged against the cold concrete floor.

Milk from Madox Farm – where filming took place in late 2021 – is supplied to the UK’s largest independent dairy processor and wholesaler: Freshways. Freshways, which is based in London, distributes dairy products to a number of established retailers and businesses, including Costa Coffee, British Airways, Londis, Budgens and P&O Cruises. Freshways also supplies Morrisons’ wholesale operation, which supplies products to restaurants, cafés and Amazon Fresh.

Managers on Madox Farm were also found on several occasions to knowingly leave cows to suffer in severe, prolonged pain. On one occasion a cow was left in excruciating pain after her unborn calf had died inside of her. Despite a veterinarian recommending prompt euthanasia, the on-site manager opted to delay action. The veterinarian was recorded saying that “this is one place where they’d rather just save the money”. The cow died overnight. Reflecting on the situation, Animal Equality states that: “Madox Farm might have saved some money that day, but those animals paid the price”.

IMAGES: https://www.flickr.com/gp/animalequalityuk/QYVtQ2 

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/XzsCIVuC_ms

PETITION: animalequality.org.uk/act/cruelty-to-cows 

The distressing footage was revealed to millions of viewers on BBC One’s Panorama. The programme scrutinised the abuse and neglect taking place on Madox Farm, whilst also probing the standard, legal operations that are integral to dairy production, including separation of cows from their young calves.

Speaking on their findings Abigail Penny, Executive Director of Animal Equality UK, says: “We are urging the authorities to use the full force of the law to hold this farm accountable for its abusive actions towards animals. A conviction of cruelty won’t help those cows who were brutally beaten or left to die in agony overnight, but it will send a strong message to this industry that the UK will not tolerate such cruelty.” She added: “We’re fed a fairy-tale about dairy farming, but the reality is far darker. Consumers are being conned.”

Professor Andrew Knight, Founding Director of the Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Winchester, expressed concern after viewing the footage: “It’s abuse, it’s inhumane, this should not be occurring.”

However, this is not an isolated incident. Over the past six years Animal Equality UK has investigated four dairy farms and has uncovered prolonged animal suffering, deliberate abuse and neglect, or illegality taking place on each one. As a result of its investigations into farms and slaughterhouses, the NGO has seen six successful prosecutions of animal abuse over recent years.

Legal firm, Advocates for Animals, has submitted a complaint on behalf of Animal Equality UK to Carmarthenshire County Council, the local authority responsible for investigating crimes of this kind. Edie Bowles, Solicitor at Advocates for Animals, says: “The treatment of cows at Madox Farm is in clear contravention of the law. Not only are there incidents of direct violence towards cows, there is a culture of neglect and substandard care causing gross suffering, all of which is contrary to the Animal Welfare legislation.”

Also speaking on the issue, veterinary surgeon Marc Abraham OBE, added: “This is some of the most alarming animal abuse and neglect that I have encountered during my time as a veterinary surgeon. There are a number of concerning incidents where appropriate medical care was not provided to sick, lame and injured cows, as well as several occasions where cows were struck violently and repeatedly. There is no doubt in my mind that these cows would have suffered significantly and that their prolonged pain was entirely avoidable.”

Standard dairy industry practices were also recorded on the farm, including calves being separated from their mothers within hours of being born. These legally permissible practices are typical within the UK’s 8,000+ dairy producers, including small holdings, organic-certified and industrialised farms.

A significant number of cows were shown to be struggling to walk and stand. On one occasion, a cow in the milk parlour was unable to stand. In an exclusive interview with BBC Panorama he recalled the incident: “Instead of letting her calm down and maybe try to pull her in a gentle way the first reaction was to kick her forcefully in the flank, in the stomach. The second reaction of other workers was to kick her in the back and the consensus was that to pull her tail forcibly is the right thing to do.” Research shows that up to 30% of cows in the UK dairy industry are lame. Gloucestershire-based vet, Roger Blowey, admitted to BBC Panorama that “it would be unusual to find a dairy herd without any lameness. The two factors that probably most affect lameness in cattle is first of all, calving, and secondly, the amount of standing.” 

It is also understood that up to 50% of cows used for their dairy suffer from painful infections, such as mastitis, due to the unnatural milk yields that place strain upon their udders. The dairy industry produces 15 billion litres of milk annually, worth £9.2 billion to the economy. The average yield for a dairy cow is 40% higher than 30 years ago – around 23 to 24 litres a day. Cows used for dairy in the UK are typically sent to slaughter at three or four years old for cheap beef, considered ‘spent’ by the industry due to their reduced milk production.

Animal Equality’s footage also evidences the speed with which calves are separated from their mothers, usually just hours after birth – a standard practice within the dairy industry and one that Professor Knight asserts to be “very stressful for both the calf and for the mother” due to their “very strong bond.”

Animal Equality’s undercover investigator was quoted in the programme saying: “I have a memory of when I entered the pen, the calf was still wet, moist from the birth and the mother cow saw the wheelbarrow. She immediately ran to her calf and started licking him. This calf was born less than an hour before, she was following the wheelbarrow and trying to lick him and touch him.”

Lawyers for Madox Farm, where the filming took place, told BBC Panorama that if workers had abused cows, a disciplinary process would begin immediately. They added that the farm owner continues to invest in the health and welfare of his herd.

In what campaigners describe as a “meteoric rise in conscious consumerism“, one third of Brits are reported to be regularly drinking plant-based milk, making the dairy-alternative market worth nearly £400 million a year.