How cattle have been used in NZ
Thousands of cattle are used in Aotearoa for science. This sadly makes sense when you consider how widely they are exploited for their milk and their bodies.
The species of cattle is simplified to cows by many people. Actually, only the mothers of the species are called cows. Heifers are female cattle before they become mothers. Calves are their babies. The males are referred to as bulls (or steers if castrated).
Animal agriculture:
Thousands of cattle are used in Aotearoa every year in research aimed at trying to sustain, enhance and make more money for the animal agriculture industry. Cattle in NZ have been used in the following ways for research:
- Research into decreasing their negative environmental impact. This can include
- glueing urine sensors around their vulva, researching ways to reduce urine nitrogen output.
- respiration chambers, researching ways to reduce methane produced in their digestive system.
- Finding ways to increase the survival rate of calves until they are sent for slaughter or decrease their cost, including
- understanding dehydration as a cause of mortality
- ways to feed and house calves
- evaluating enrichment during rearing
- Better understanding body condition and fertility of cows, including
- artificial insemination
- oestrus synchronisation in dairy herds
- trying to speed up the time to get cows pregnant again after calving
- studying the relationship of body condition to hunger, disease, and fertility
- Genetic research, including
- identifying genes for desired and undesired productivity traits
- genetic manipulation to insert desired traits into their DNA (for example, to change their milk composition)
- cloning research, trying to increase the occurrence of desired traits in the population
- Disease research, which often involves making the animals sick on purpose, includes studies into
- lameness causes and treatment
- mastitis (common infection of the udder in dairy cows)
- fungal and parasitic infections
- Housing and herd management, including research into
- bedding and floor types
- shelter and shade
- hygiene practices
- Trying to find more “humane” slaughter methods.
- Researching different types of pain relief for standard procedures in the animal agriculture industry (i.e. dehorning, castration, C-section)
- Testing effects and safety of chemicals and animal remedies, including
- medications
- supplements and additives
- fertilizers
- Research into increasing milk or muscle (beef) production in other ways than breeding. This research can aim at
- measuring digestibility of individual food samples
- testing benefits of food combinations
- testing feed additives
- For some research, cattle are fistulated, meaning
- a hole is cut into their flank, creating a permanent opening into the rumen (the biggest of their stomachs).
- This hole is then plugged with a rubber fistula that can be opened to take samples.
- Additional calf exploitation:
- Calves and calf foetuses are killed, and the blood is drained from their bodies to be used in other research (more info coming soon!).
Note: This is not a comprehensive list. For more details and referenced examples of how cows are used, see the case studies section at the bottom of this page.
Research on cows in the news
Mycoplasma Bovis
"Researchers will measure how M. Bovis impacts infected animals and herds, including physical signs, effects on milk yield and quality, weight gain in cattle, and the duration of these effects." Read more.
Cow shock collars
"Animals wear GPS-enabled collars that identify their location relative to invisible fence lines created on a digital farm map. The animals are trained to be guided by audio prompts (beeps) from the collars when required. As an animal gets close to a virtual fence, a series of beeps alerts them to the fence boundary. If they cross the fence line, they receive a "disincentive", a mild electric shock, and are guided back inside the line." Read more.
Bobby calves
Bobby calves (male calves of dairy cows) are normally unwanted by the dairy industry. Researchers are cross-breeding dairy cows with beef breeds so that bobby calves can be killed and eaten after a year, rather than being killed as "excess" after 4 days. Read more.
Climate change
AgResearch scientists have been given $10 million to develop cattle better adapted to warmer temperatures and to lower methane emissions.
"We've already produced some cattle, and they have a different coat colour – the black has been reduced to a greyish colour, and then we'll see if it reduces heat gain in those animals."
"We can then identify the underlying gene variants; once these are known, you can take them in isolation. We'll also be looking at other eco-efficient variants such as improved feed conversion efficiency or reduced urinary nitrogen excretion." Read more.
High impact studies
Every year, the NZ Government reports on the use of animals for science that was rated as high or very high impact (i.e. cause the most harm or stress to the animals involved). Those are either very severe, very long in duration, or both.
In 2020, one cow was graded D because she started to limp from her foot hurting.
In 2019, no high or very high impact studies involving cattle in the MPI report.
In 2018, cattle were used in high-impact studies:
- Calves were disbudded, and controlled pressure was put on the wound edge in several spots and several times during the day. Their reaction to pressure led to the higher-than-expected grading.
- Cows had a fistula surgically put in their flank to collect rumen fluid samples.
- Calves were disbudded without pain medication as a control in a pain medication study. After the dehorning, most animals received pain meds.
Overview
The figures in the table below have been provided by MPI.
How cattle were used for science in NZ: |
|||
Purpose | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Basic biological research | 15,586 | 9,747 | 9,537 |
Veterinary research | 44,059 | 39,737 | 14,360 |
Teaching | 19,939 | 20,473 | 14,536 |
Animal husbandry research | 5,102 | 6,305 | 7,555 |
Medical research | 0 | 732 | 9 |
Testing | 4,402 | 3,866 | 90 |
Environmental management | 11,609 | 560 | 592 |
Species conservation | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Production of biological agents | 1,235 | 2,876 | 7 |
Development of alternatives | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Producing offspring with compromised welfare | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Other | 588 | 1,299 | 251 |
Total number used | 102,520 | 81,595 | 46,937 |
Animals killed | 1,042 | 991 | 1,626 |
Animals killed that were bred but not used | NA | 0 | 0 |
Total number including those bred and killed but weren't used | NA | 81,595 | 49,937 |
The figures in the table above were provided by MPI.
Where cattle have been used
Cattle are used for research, testing and teaching purposes by universities such as Lincoln University (who have their own research dairy farm) and Massey University (they also have their own dairy farms) by private companies such as Abacus Bio Limited and Cognosco, by crown institutes such as AgResearch, by industry bodies such as Dairy NZ and by other organisations and individuals. Find out more.
Where cattle have been sourced from
Cattle used in science are sourced from commercial establishments, farms, public sources, breeding units and other sources. Find out more.
Take action!
- This is an ongoing, long-term campaign, so if you feel strongly about demanding transparency and openness, please consider making a monthly donation.
- Learn about the many other ways that you can help end animal experimentation.
Further reading
- Return to the main Case Studies page.
- Learn about the alternatives and replacement methods that can be used instead of animals.
- Read about why animal testing is both ethically and scientifically flawed.
Case studies involving cattle