Calf in stunning restraint

TQM is Tasmania's largest sheep and calf slaughterhouse. In 2023 investigators installed hidden cameras to capture the handling and killing of thousands of calves and sheep. Over the course of a month, we installed cameras at TQM slaughterhouse, capturing the brutal treatment and slaughter of thousands of sheep and week-old calves, many who were pushed, thrown, beaten and even killed while fully conscious.

An electric stunner is used to paralyse week-old 'bobby calves,' who are discarded as waste from any of the state's 412 dairy farms. Dozens of calves were recorded being stunned ineffectively, or not stunned at all because they were pushed upside down into the restraint or were so small that they fell through the bottom. These calves were tipped into the kill room and had their throats slit while fully conscious, struggling and trying to escape the hands and knife that ended their life. Indicators of consciousness, including blinking, rhythmic breathing and trying to stand and escape were observed in many calves, even after their throats had been slit.