The Auckland Times | Issue 185| October 15, 2019
Local News
Calf carcasses piled in a trailer: 'Shocking' or just a farming?
A
trailer seen
piled with dead
calves at a busy
petrol station has
drawn disapproval from the
farming community.
More than a dozen
exposed carcasses were in
the trailer, parked at the
Paparoa petrol station in
Northland's Kaipara District.
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The person who took the
photo, from Auckland, said
the load "stank badly" and
was "a confronting sight –
pretty gross".
Police, the Ministry for
Primary Industries (MPI),
Northland Regional Council
and the New Zealand
Transport Agency agreed
the driver didn't appear to be
breaching any laws.
But agriculture experts
said the calves should have
been covered by a tarpaulin
and tied down securely – for
safety and in the interests of
good taste.
DairyNZ's animal welfare
manager Helen Thoday said
transporting dead animals
was a "reality of farming"
needing to be balanced with
the sensitivities of the the
broader public.
She acknowledged
it would be "concerning
for some members of the
public" to see so many
carcasses en masse and
out of context. DairyNZ
recommended such loads be
"covered as a sign of respect
to fellow road users".
Beef + Lamb New
Zealand's manager for
technical policy Chris
Houston echoed Thoday's
message.
While MPI had a code of
conduct to help transporters
of livestock comply with
the Animal Welfare Act,
a spokeswoman said the
transport of dead stock was
beyond its remit.
The Land Transport Act
stipulates "loads" must be
"secured and contained in
such a manner that [they]
cannot fall or escape from
the vehicle".
The MPI spokeswoman
confirmed the calves were
not bobby calves, surplus
to the dairy industry
and transported alive to
slaughterhouses soon after
birth. Stuff understands the
calves were likely headed
for a leather processing
plant.
Animals destined for
tanneries tend to have died
naturally, Adam Cowie, of
Invercargill's Animal Skin
Tanning Services, said.
It was "the right time of
year" for carcass collectors
to drive around rural areas,
picking up calves and lambs
that had died at birth or in
storms, he said.
The collectors then
transported the animals
by truck or trailer to a
processor, where they were
skinned.
Cowie said this driver
"probably should have"
covered his load with a
tarpaulin, or used a truck
with a covered tray – as
was the rule of thumb in
Southland.
"But at the end of
the day they're just dead
animals, a byproduct, and
it's good they're not going to
waste."
A Kaipara District Council
spokesman said he
understood how the practice
would attract contention
in the district, home to
people from rural and urban
backgrounds living in close
proximity.
"For a farmer it's probably a
perfectly normal sight, but
I can see how it would be
quite shocking," he said.
He urged carcass collectors
to "have a bit of courtesy"
covering loads and to
transport them when the
roads were quiet.