More Western Bay farms investigated

The number of animal welfare complaints the Ministry for Primary Industries has investigated on farms in the Bay of Plenty is on the rise - with three farmers prosecuted over the last three years.

Data released shows the ministry has already received 24 complaints in 2015 compared to 21 in 2014, while 11 of those complaints over those timeframes happened on dairy farms.

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman said not all of the complaints were substantiated cases of animal abuse and often involved light or lame cows.

The complaints covered a broad spectrum and were resolved promptly but a full investigation would be mounted if any offending was discovered, he said. There were four warranted officers in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region, with two based in Tauranga.

The news comes amid public outrage at bobby calves being beaten to death on secret video footage recorded by animal rights group Farmwatch that aired on TV One's Sunday programme earlier this week.

It included calves being thrown into trucks, bludgeoned to death, separated from their mothers hours after birth and left for hours in the sun and also showed bobby calves being kicked and thrown about at a slaughterhouse.

Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust chairman Derek Spratt said what aired on TV was an "utter disgrace" but 99 per cent of farmers abided by the rules of the Animal Welfare Act.

He acknowledged that "there are some farmers out there that need to seriously look at the animal welfare issues on their farms".

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said cruel and illegal practices were in no way condoned by the industry.