'Do you want to know a secret?'

11 November 2011 Have your say

Hundreds of generous Animals Australia donors have chipped in to ask this very question of millions of newspaper readers this week.

Thanks to their generous support, Animals Australia has placed this eye-catching quarter-page advertisement in papers across Australia to demand a kinder future for some 700,000 unwanted 'bobby calves' discarded and killed as 'waste products' every year.

It's a secret so unpalatable that once learned, it must be shared. Our request to help fund this ad campaign has been met with overwhelming support, which has secured ad placement in all of the following major papers on 12th November:

WA: Weekend West Australian
ACT: Canberra Times

As well as the following papers on 13th November:

VIC: Sunday Herald Sun
NSW: Sunday Telegraph
QLD: Sunday Mail
SA: Adelaide Advertiser
TAS: Hobart Mercury

And the following papers on 19th November:

VIC: The Age
NSW: Sydney Morning Herald

The placement of these ads is timely, with the dairy industry pushing hard recently to pass a Standard that would make it legal to starve bobby calves for the last stressful 30 hours of their lives. Despite immense public backlash, a meeting of State and Federal Agriculture Ministers on 28th October failed to address community concern and improve conditions for these vulnerable animals — making it clear that the only hope for bobby calves rests in the hands of informed consumers.

The Animals Australia office has been inundated with calls and emails from people who previously had no idea of the callous way the dairy industry disposes of unwanted animals. Not only is public awareness growing, media interest is too. A recent story on Radio National's Bush Telegraph highlighted further cruelty to calves.

Download | Embed video | Share on facebook

Our ad will be a major wake-up call not only to millions of caring consumers, but to the dairy industry. It will ensure that never again will their treatment of these calves escape the scrutiny and judgement of a community that won’t tolerate animal cruelty.

You can help!

• Click here to 'Adopt' your very own plush bobby calf — and strengthen our initiatives to help these animals.
  
• Another important way to help bobby calves is by voting with your dollar. Click here to discover calcium-rich dairy-free alternatives that are kind to calves.
  
• Please take a minute to let the dairy industry know what you think of their treatment of calves.
  
• And finally, please spread the word — share our campaign video on Facebook.

Post a commentYour Say: 644 comments

David: Not all farmers... Wednesday, 27 March 2013 at 1:41pm

I'm a farmer who has had several bobby calves over the years but I;ve never had them killed. There are ways of nuturing them looking after them. Two of ours even got homes in hobby farms when they were old enough. It's common in the industry to see them as a faulty product' but it is something regulatory bodies are trying to prevent.
EG:
http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Animals-feed-and-environment/Animal-welfare/Calf-welfare/Managing-bobby-calf-welfare.aspx

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sergio: sergiodenobrega@gotmail.com Friday, 22 June 2012 at 1:07am

Em menos de 1 minuto você estará assistindo TV de graça www.tvhd.com.br

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Angela Wilson: Free Range Milk Thursday, 22 March 2012 at 1:06pm

I have just written to Harvey Fresh dairy inquiring about their policies on animal cruelty and their FREE RANGE products.  Let see if I get any feedback!

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Val:: A Qote For The Day Thursday, 15 March 2012 at 10:32pm

This is by Jacques Yves Cousteau- If we go on the way we have ,the fault is our greed, and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect. How true this is.

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Cecilie Ottem: Good economy for farmers with cow/calf relationship Wednesday, 29 February 2012 at 11:03pm

The results from a farm in Norway practising natural feeding of dairy calves (also bull calves) shows that calves that are housed with their mothers grow faster and are healthier than other calves. There were also less illness on the dairy cows. Read more here:

http://www.actavetscand.com/content/49/1/16

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Cecilie Ottem: Pasture Wednesday, 29 February 2012 at 7:52pm

*my cows too are separated from their calf* i meant to write of course:)
I think dairy farmers in Australia should get more subsidies as we have in Norway, so they are not so forced to only think profit.
And in Norway we get also get subsidies for having both heifer and bull calves on pasture in the summer. Make the government/state give
subsidies for dairy beef farming, subsidies for bull-calves on pasture and so on. Good luck with all your work for animal welfare! :)

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Cecilie Ottem: A market for dairy bull-calves Wednesday, 29 February 2012 at 7:34pm

I am a Norwegian dairy farmer (sorry for my bad english) and I was very upset when I saw this. In Norway all bull calves from the dairy industry are bred at the farm, or farmes spesialised for breeding bull/steer  beef   6 months-2 years and then slaughtered. I have never heard of slaughtering week old calves here. The breed we use here is traditionally bred for both milk and beef, so 80% of meat from cattle comes from dairy-herds. I have 20 dairy cows, and raise all calves in the same building as the dairy cows (though my calves too are separated from their calf on day 1-4, unfortunately, because I have a tiestall for the dairy cows). I have them till they are 10 months and then I slaughter them, and sell them as "gourmet calves", I get a lot of money from this, and I also get a lot of subsidies from the state for producing both milk and meat. If we couldn't get these high subsidies, Norwegian dairy farming would peobably become "industrialised" as in EU/ USA and Australia. But I see a development also here, with more high yields on dairy cows, and more " specialized beef farming" with beef breeds. I hope this development will not make meat from norwegian dairy calves worthless in the future. This video was really sad to watch. I hope you sucsee to make a marked for "dairy-breed beef". Here's an article from Farmers Guardian about this:
http://www.farmersguardian.com/veal-range-provides-new-outlet-for-dairy-bull-calves/18813.article
I signed the petition, Keep up the good work!:)

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Val: Pasteurized Milk Causes Cancer Monday, 27 February 2012 at 4:50pm

Look up www.NaturalNews.com to read about how pasteurized cows milk causes cancer in a study done by Harvard University.I put this somewhere else too but as it invovws bobby calves i put it here as well.It's so cruel to take the bobby calves away from their mothers and kill them.There are too many factory farms making a profit and the animals suffer because of it.Normal milk is ok.Anyway read it.

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Val: Apricot And Cranberry Loaf Friday, 10 February 2012 at 11:22pm

DH:You wanted a recipe.This is nice.Dairy Free.One and a quarter cups self raising flour, one half cup firmly packed brown sugar, three quarter cup chopped dried apricots, three quarters cup sweetened dried apricots, three quarters cup sweetened dried cranberries,90g Nuttelex,melted,1x59g egg,lightly beaten,one half cup soy milk,one third cup golden syrup.1 Lightly grease a medium 12cm x 22cm loaf pan and line base with baking paper.2Sift flour into a large bowl,stir in brown sugar,apricots and cranberries.Combine melted nuttelex,egg,milk and golden syrup in a large jug.Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients,add egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.3 Pour mixture into prepared pan.Bake in a 180C oven for 50-55 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer.Remove loaf from oven,stand in pan for 10 minutes,then turn onto a wire rack to cool.Serve plain or spread with nuttelex.Serves 10.This loaf will keep for days in in an airtight container.I am not sure how many days now but just use your own judgement as i always know if something is stale.

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Val: Apricot And Cranberry Loaf Thursday, 9 February 2012 at 11:09am

I have a nice recipe for an Apricot and Cranberry Loaf that uses half a cup of soy milk and 90g Nuttelex.I will make it soon .We need to get away from too much dairy if possible as no one seems to listen about cruelty to the bobby calves or else they don't answer your letters or tell lies about what they do.

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Val: Veal Wednesday, 1 February 2012 at 6:20pm

Joanna Lumley is trying to help the bobby calves in Britain and i try here too.They shouldn't be taken from their mothers and slaughtered .It makes me so angry that the human race can do these cruel things.

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Val: Australia Day Thursday, 26 January 2012 at 9:47am

I have put out the rest of my flers in the window.The lady who lets me do it is nice.Some people won't take them but i am able to leave the flyers i put in the place i put them for as long  as i like which is handy.Most of the bobby calf flyers have gone there.Enjoy Australia day and don't forget the animal refuges need help as it's very hot.I will watch my cat as she doesn't like the fireworks.

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Val: New Dairy Farms Friday, 20 January 2012 at 8:22pm

In The West Australian today:Big W.A. dairy farm falls under foreign control.A Chinese company has bought one of W.A's biggest dairy farms amid debate over foreign investment in prime agricultural land. Elder's Real Estate confirmed yesterday it had negotiated the sale of family-owned Ravenhill dairy near Narrikup,to an undisclosed company.The 950ha farm has laid claim to be the biggest dairy operation in W.A.,milking about 1,000 cows and producing it's own line of milk and cream.Farmers have expressed concern over the $231 million threshold for review by the Foreign investment Review Board.You can read it all in The West australian as there is more.The animals are all pictured standing around in a ring.I asked if i could put some leaflets with the dog on the front in The belmont Forum but was sharply told off as the woman said i ask every week and the answer is no.i am allowed to put them in some places.I put some in The Commonwealth Bank.I have my little places.

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L Mann: Ethical Dairy Farmers Wednesday, 28 December 2011 at 3:03pm

I know this is an important issue, but surely there are some dairy farmers out there who don't practice killing off bobby calves (I was reading up on Barambah farms who keep all their calves), so why not provide a list of ethical farmers, so we can support them instead, and send a positive message about how we want our cows treated?  Yes there's alternatives to diary but as several people have pointed out, if dairy farming were stopped altogether, what would happen to all these animals?  Shouldn't we send a message about what is an acceptable practice as well as what we won't tolerate?

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Val-bobby calves-mv ocean shearer: Flyers and Bobby Calves Tuesday, 20 December 2011 at 3:04am

I put the bobby calf flyers around in shops and a child care centre today but didn't tell you here as i have been answering so many emails.I try to help people get the message about all our animals .Reading emails takes time but i try to read all of them now.

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Val-Bobby Calves Mv Ocean Shearer: My Tea Thursday, 8 December 2011 at 2:51am

I DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE MILK IN MY TEA>I drink a lot of black tea.I always did like black tea with a bit of sugar.I want to help the bobby calves.Little sweet things who could hurt them.Who?

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nicho: dairy farmers Wednesday, 30 November 2011 at 11:16am

if we stop milking cows then what happens to all of them? i know it sounds bad taking calves from there mother straight away but the calves are kept in nice warm sheds with water and food (better than out in a frost) they are cared for properly by most farmers as we get no money for dead or sick calves so it is in our best interests to look after them.  

these videos are isiolated incidents and i belive anyone caught treating animals like this should be locked up. i could make any industry look bad if i fillmed only the bits i wanted you need to get the full picture.

if we all go vego then all the cows, sheep, goats and chickens will have to be killed or they will all die of disease or starvation when left to breed up naturally as we are there only preditor.

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Val-Bobby Calves: Tommy Tuesday, 29 November 2011 at 3:23pm

I contacted Tommy? and asked him to look after the animals at Tamworth for me as i bought his Christmas cd for my brother for a Christmas present.I personally hate and would never go to a rodeo at any place.Rodeoes are cruel.

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V: AVO - Human Race Friday, 25 November 2011 at 7:42pm

So well said Boyd and unfortunately so very true - the animal kingdom does need to put an AVO out against the whole human race !

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Val-Bobby Calves: Kd Lang Monday, 21 November 2011 at 6:14am

I should put this on the Rodeo part but am getting tired so i will just say Hi to KD lang a favorite singer of mine.She fought the beef industry and i hope she is still trying.The big industrys are hard though as they have a lot of money to make.The smaller farmer would not be as bad.

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