This shocking undercover footage shows a newborn calf on an dairy farm being brutally thrown to the floor and force-fed.
The animal is seen being hauled to the ground and fed by a worker at Coombe Farm in Somerset- who supply organic products to Waitrose and are an RSPCA Assured certified farm.
Several cows are also seen with their legs shackled to keep them standing up and then appear to be limping and injured.
The footage was obtained by welfare charity Animal Equality in June and July last year.
Waitrose has confirmed ‘this does not meet the high standards we set for a farm supplying it’ and have suspended the farm and launched a full investigation.
A worker tears the calf away from its mother and proceeds to force fed it using a lengthy tube
Calves are routinely seperated from their mothers less than 24 hours after birth and can be heard in the video calling out
Several cows are in the footage with their back legs chained together in shackles. It is thought this is so they don’t fall over, but the practise has been condemned by animal charities
Another calf is force-fed by a worker while the distressed mother looks on disapprovingly
The clip also shows a worker standing on a calf while shouting ‘you f***** idiot and workers shoving tubes down the throats of young calves.
Their mothers are visibly agitated while the workers engage in force feeding and seem distressed.
Dr Toni Shephard, executive director of Animal Equality, told The Mirror : ‘Far from preventing injury, shackles help facilitate a farming system that works animals to the point of collapse.
‘They simply enable farmers to squeeze every last drop of milk out of these poor worn-out mothers before they go to slaughter.’
The charity also said some calves were denied access to water for up to 29 hour on some of the hottest days of the year.
On its website Coombe Farm says: ‘We’ve been farming our estate in Somerset since the 1940’s, and from here we’ve grown a successful organic dairy business.
‘We apply principles of high animal welfare and sound land management, which has enabled us to produce products of the highest organic quality, supplying some of the most trusted names in retail.
‘With this experience and success behind us, our next exciting challenge is bringing you the finest organic produce.’
A man uses the full weight of his body to lean on the calf so that it cannot move and force feed it
A cow collapses as a worker watches on nearby. A spokesman for the RSPCA said they were ‘disgusted’ by the footage
A number of calves lay together in a pen. Dr Toni Shephard, executive director of Animal Equality, said consumers will be ‘shocked’ by the treatment of new born calves
Dr Shephard added: ‘Consumers will be shocked to see such cruel treatment of tiny newborn calves with their heartbroken mothers forced to look on.’
‘These harrowing scenes are far from the much-romanticised [idea of an] organic farm.
‘The workers seen doing the force-feeding have no compassion or empathy with the newborn calves and should not continue to be employed on the farm.
‘But senior management also needs to be held accountable for inadequate training and supervision.’
An RSPCA spokesman said: ‘We are shocked and disgusted by the footage.
‘It is totally unacceptable for staff on an RSPCA Assured certified farm – or any farm – to treat calves and cows this way and we apologise wholeheartedly.
‘We launched an investigation and suspended the farm from the scheme.’
The Soil Association, which certifies the farm as organic, said the handling of the calves was ‘unacceptable’.
A spokesman for Coombe Farm said: ‘We ensure that any welfare issues raised are dealt with immediately.
‘We initiated a request to the Soil Association and RSPCA Assured to visit the farm in question and carried out our own investigation.
‘We have addressed any issues of noncompliance for the Soil Association and RSPCA Assured, and have implemented further training for farm staff.’