VGT reports cattle farm: Dairy cows degraded to eating and milking objects
Anonymous informants have drawn the attention of the VEREIN GEGEN TIERFABRIKEN (VGT) to a small, filthy cowshed with tethering in the Innsbruck district. The animal rights activists have put up a complaint.
That doesn’t go on cowhide! There they are, some milk cows, 6 or 7 of them. In a small stable in a village near Innsbruck. They are tied at the neck. They have so little space that they cannot move properly. Lying down and getting up again somehow works out. The floor is dirty with excrement, urine and straw residue, wet, disgusting. If the cows want to lie down to chew the cud, rest or sleep, they have to lie down in their own dung. The animals also look correspondingly dirty. It’s obvious: the cows don’t want to live like that. This is neither animal nor animal welfare friendly.
VGT has issued a complaint
The VGT was made aware of this small business by anonymous informants. After a strict examination, a complaint was filed with the district authority of Innsbruck on suspicion of violating the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act and the 1st Animal Husbandry Ordinance.
Mag. Erich Schacherl, cattle expert at the VGT: “In this barn, the cows cannot live out their needs. You cannot move enough. They cannot live out their need for rest in an art- and animal-friendly manner. They cannot live out their complex social behavior. The only thing they are allowed to eat is food. So that they give milk. The sensitive and intelligent cows are degraded, degraded and mistreated into objects to be eaten and milked. We are dealing with tethered animal cruelty, which will not be abolished in this form until 2030, and only partially.”
Terrifying normality, terrifying dimension
It is frightening: The company reported is not an isolated case. Tethering is normal in Tyrol. And the dimensions of this animal suffering, which preferably takes place behind closed stable doors, is hard to believe. It’s not about a few farms and a few cattle. According to the agricultural structure survey 2020, there were 10,362 farms in Tyrol in 2020 with tethered places for cattle. 4,583 farms were with dairy cows, 5,779 farms for other cattle. A total of 110,307 tethered places for cattle were available in 2020. 52,395 tethered places were intended for dairy cows, 57,912 places for other cattle.
Tying cows up to 9 months is legal
Tethering means that cattle may be tied up in a barn for 9 months of the year. This is exactly what is common on many cattle farms in Tyrol. Many cows are on an alpine pasture during the summer months. However, most of the time—fall, winter, and spring—they are often confined to small pens. In these, the living and husbandry conditions do not meet the needs of the animals. The cows do not live according to animals and animal welfare. It’s still allowed.
Animal Benefits Act instead of Animal Welfare Act
Mag. Erich Schacherl: “In this case, the animal protection law is an animal benefit law. It does not protect the cattle, but the keepers of cattle. The law allows them to lock up the animals for months under conditions that are contrary to animal welfare. For the VGT, this is a mockery of animal welfare principles. That is why we see it as our special obligation to inform the public and consumers about the forms of cattle husbandry that are contrary to animal welfare”.
Permanent tethering is also not permitted
In Tyrol there are still cattle farms with permanent tethering, where the animals may be tethered 365 days a year. A survey by the VGT to the Tyrolean district authorities in spring and summer 2022 showed that a total of 163 cattle farms in Tyrol have received official approval to permanently tie up cattle. There are 95 companies in the Innsbruck district.
The VGT has launched a petition calling for an end to the tethering of cattle. More than 55,000 people have already signed it.
Stop tethering cattle