Thousands of pregnant cows are slaughtered every year 'the calves die a painful death the unborn calf suffocates in the womb: a worldwide horror industry

 

Agnes de Goede 

Several hundred pregnant cows are probably slaughtered every year in the Netherlands with calves suffocating in the womb. The transport of these animals to slaughterhouses is prohibited, but it still happens in abundance, according to figures from regulator NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority)  "The calf dies a terrible death," says animal organization Wakker Dier www.wakkerdier.nl

The NVWA suspects that since the beginning of last year to date, a heavily pregnant cow has been transported to a slaughterhouse 227 times. European legislation prohibits the transport of cows that are in the final phase of gestation (still 10 percent to go). 

The cattle farmer can be fined 1500 euros."Transporting heavily pregnant cows is a serious offence. It causes unnecessary suffering. A serious violation of animal welfare. That is why, as an authority, we check this very strictly in slaughterhouses," says Bjorn Elsebrock on behalf of the NVWA.Cows, like humans, are pregnant for nine months. 

When a cow is slaughtered, she is stunned and bleeds to death. As a result, the unborn calf no longer receives oxygen through the umbilical cord and dies of suffocation in the womb. Science does not give an unequivocal answer, but according to several studies, it appears that the nervous system of the calf has developed so much in the last months of gestation that the animal can feel pain.

'Terrible death'

Nevertheless, it still happens regularly that heavily pregnant cows are transported to slaughter. Offenders often give the reason that they do not know exactly how far the gestation period has progressed.

According to Anne Hilhorst of Wakker Dier, this is a bad excuse: "It is the company's responsibility to keep track of when which cow was inseminated. Poor administration is no excuse.

Because a cow has to have a calf every year to keep milk production going, most cows on a dairy farm are pregnant by default. Hilhorst: "Transporting a heavily pregnant cow is prohibited and causes a lot of suffering. The transport is extra hard for her and when she is slaughtered, her fully grown calf suffocates in the womb kicking."

Sometimes farmers want to get rid of their cows because they want to reduce their livestock.

RTL News reported on the abuse before, but the slaughter of heavily pregnant cows is still continuing. And: the number of heavily pregnant cows that have been slaughtered has even increased.

Politics is in charge

Since 2015, the House of Representatives has been discussing the introduction of the slaughter ban. Pregnant cows would no longer be allowed to go to the slaughterhouse from six months. The two previous State Secretaries of Agriculture said they would arrange this, but so far this has not happened.

The NVWA is conducting an investigation to find out why heavily pregnant animals are still sent to the slaughterhouse by the farmer. Elsebrock: "We do this in the hope that we can enforce better and prevent more suffering. Livestock farmers can also do a lot themselves, for example have a pregnancy check carried out by a veterinarian."

A pregnant cow in a slaughterhouse

When the cow is slaughtered, the uterus with the fetus emerges. Large cattle slaughterhouses keep the fetuses separate.

A veterinarian from the NVWA then examines whether the cow has been pregnant for more than 8.5 months. The farmer will also be visited by the NVWA for investigation. If it turns out that the cow is indeed heavily pregnant, the farmer will be fined 1500 euros. Eventually, all young unborn calves are thrown away as waste.