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There is a clear limit to what good animal husbandry is: if a farm complies with the Animal Welfare Act. If the law is not followed, the county administrative authority may, during its animal welfare checks, issue orders, a decision that the animal’s owner must improve.
The task review has requested all requests related to meat and milk production last year, from Sweden’s 21 county boards.
This is a total of 210 farms that, according to the county administrative board, did not comply with the Animal Protection Act.
Reports of farm visits recall what was revealed at the Hälsingland dairy farm. These include dirty, injured, sick and thin cows.
“Not cleaned in three years”
In one of the reports, the county administrative board writes:
All the calves were lethargic and listless and at the bottom of the well. One cow had foam from the mouth and a swollen udder. The milk from her nipples was clumsy and discolored.
Almost four weeks later, the County Administrative Board returns to the farm, noting that the cow that needed care and four of the seven calves have died, without having to call a vet.
In reports from other farms you can read:
Among other things, there were dead calves in bed that were not noticed or moved by you.
The barn had not been cleaned in three years.
Several of the animals were heavily fertilized and where the manure was released there were large areas without skin with reddened skin.
38 farms in Arla in the survey
The deficiencies in animal husbandry described in the orders of the County Administrative Board are not the only reminders of the farm in Hälsingland. Among the 210 farms that the Assignment Review has requested, there are 38 that deliver milk to Arla.
– First, I want to say that poor animal care is never okay. We seriously analyze this type of problem. We also realize that our quality system has shortcomings that we must now address and we are speeding to rectify, says Patrik Hansson, CEO of Arla.
In addition, among Arla’s 38 farms, there is an owner of an animal convicted of animal cruelty, one who is now accused of animal cruelty and another who has been banned from caring for dairy cows.
Convicted people can no longer deliver milk to Arla, says Patrik Hansson.
So have you stopped these?
– Yes, we have detained them, at least those owners. The farm may well have been resold. But if you have an animal ban, we don’t collect milk from that farm.
“It is not the general image”
While Assignment Review finds more than 200 farms that have violated the Animal Welfare Act, there are a large number of farms that were not visited last year. County administrative boards can only control a fraction of all farms in Sweden for a year, just under 10 percent.
The president of the Swedish National Farmers Association, Palle Borgström, says that no animal in Sweden should do badly, but that the review material for allocation on animal farms is a “marginal phenomenon”.
– Based on all farms there is still no overall picture. Everything it lists is something that shouldn’t happen and needs improvement, says Palle Borgström.
