Wicklow Calf Company has said it “completely condemns the behaviour and violence towards calves” seen on the RTÉ Investigates programme on Monday 10 July.

The programme featured interviews with Wicklow Calf Company owner Seámus Scallan on his premises.

It also detailed an export journey by calves from the Wicklow farm to a veal unit in Spain, which did not appear to adhere to the break and rest stops required by law.

The programme makers outlined that when asked about the journey, Wicklow Calf Company referred their queries to a contracted haulier company called Dunroamin Logistics.

Wicklow Calf Company did not respond to queries from the Irish Farmers Journal this week.

Statement

However, in a statement posted on its website, the company says that it is a “family farm and business that take[s] animal welfare and safety very seriously and can assure you, the public, that all staff are trained to the highest standard when it comes to all animals in our care”.

It continues: “The animals are treated with the same kindness and compassion throughout their stay in our facilities and sticks/prodders/physically abusing calves have been strictly forbidden on our farm for many, many years and this is monitored very closely by full CCTV in all our lairages.”

Referring to the footage shown by RTÉ, it reads: “We can also assure you that we do not tolerate any mistreatment of our calves while they are being inter-community traded and this matter is already being internally investigated with the proper authorities with every resource available.

Regulations

“We deal very closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine and highly certified veterinarians to ensure all rules and regulations are met regarding journey logs, calf welfare and that every transportation vehicle has excess bedding, appropriate space, air conditioning units and fresh water units in full working order before embarking on their journey out of our facilities and out of Ireland, where their full journey can be tracked and temperature controlled via satellite.”

It then adds: “We invited the journalists on to our premises during their investigation in the hope of showcasing the hard work and high standards set by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine before any calf is loaded on to the trucks, but, unfortunately, we feel last night’s show did not reflect this.”