Farmers dump dairy calves on Carla Lane


12 August 1999


Farmers dump dairy calves on Carla Lane

By Vicky Houchin

FOUR farmers delivered 43 black-and-white bull calves to animal rights activist Carla Lane today (Thursday), claiming they could not afford to keep them.

The dairy bull calves, all under a week old, were taken 150 miles from Somerset to Miss Lanes animal sanctuary in West Sussex.

The farmers – Justin Farthing, Chris Barber, Julius Longman and Neil Christensen – turned up at the sanctuary unannounced in Land Rovers and horse boxes because none of them wanted to shoot their calves.

Mr Farthing had taken three calves to market last week, only to bring one back unsold while the others made £2 and £5.

“I dont want my staff to have to shoot them either, because their job is to rear them – not kill,” said Mr farthing.

The farmers took the calves to Miss Lane not just because she runs an animal sanctuary but because she is a prominent animal activist.

Earlier this week, Miss Lane said that one solution consumers could do to prevent the “barbaric mayhem” from happening was to stop buying dairy products and drinking milk.

On arrival, Miss Lane helped feed the calves with milk power supplied by the farmers. She took them in, although she admitted that she had no idea what she would do with them.

She told the farmers how ridiculous it was that a dairyman could get up in the middle of the night to calve a cow and then immediately shoot its offspring.

Mr Farthing described the television writer as very reasonable and said she understood their plight.

“We dont want a Government subsidy, but would rather have a market for these animals,” he said.

Miss Lane discussed the possible market outlets for the calves with the men, and said she was against the animals being transported long distances to be killed.

But she believes a slaughterhouse at Dover could be one answer to their problems, since the carcasses could then be transported on the hook.

Since the end of the Calf Processing Aid Scheme (CPAS), the value of black-and-white calves has dropped to between £1-£4 at markets around the country.

Many farmers can not afford to take the animals to market, and are looking to slaughter male calves at birth.

See more