Secret video shows farm workers appearing to hit and kick cows and drag calf through gate by hind leg

The secretly recorded video (click to play above), which activists claim was shot earlier this year, shows workers at the dairy plant roughly handling the dairy cows at the site. In one part of the video, which was recorded by hidden cameras, a worker can be seen dragging a calf around and even through the bars of a metal gate, while kicking its anxious mother.

Cruel farmyard workers beat cows

The horrifying footage was shot at Heaths of Stockton at Stockton Grange Farm, near Newport, which supplies German-based international dairy firm Müller. Undercover video show the animals being punched, slapped, kicked and beaten with objects by cruel farmyard workers.

Vegan animal rights activist and filmmaker Mr Carbstrong said: “The dairy industry views sentient animals as machines, to be exploited until exhaustion for profit and then slaughtered. With this mindset, it’s no wonder these sensitive, curious beings are also systematically abused when the workers think no one is watching.”

‘Unacceptable’

Müller Milk & Ingredients also said it was conducting a full investigation. A spokesperson said: "This upsetting and unacceptable behaviour is in no way representative of the high health and welfare standards we require from our supplying farms.

“We do not tolerate animal cruelty or poor welfare conditions on any of our supplying farms, and we work closely with suppliers to ensure our strict standards are adhered to and regular Red Tractor dairy assurance scheme checks are carried out. We are conducting a full investigation and have taken immediate action to identify the individuals featured in the footage, and appropriate measures will be taken."

‘No welfare concerns’ were found during inspection

Heaths of Stockton said it would take action against any worker not meeting its high standards. A spokesperson for the business said: “The welfare of our herd is of the utmost importance to us and we take any claim of misconduct extremely seriously, including making sure staff conduct is of the high standard that we expect. Appropriate action will always be taken against anyone not meeting the standards that we set.

"An independent Red Tractor inspection of the farm was carried out recently and found no animal welfare concerns.”

An NFU spokesman said: “The footage appears to be historic, but regardless of that people can be assured that British farms adhere to some of the highest animal health and welfare standards there are. On our family farms animal health and welfare is based on legal and good practice standards which are upheld by regulatory bodies such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and assurance schemes."