In many countries, male dairy calves killed within days of birth represent one of the largest-scale welfare problems in the global food system, affecting millions of animals annually.
Bobby calf killing at birth represents a massive welfare harm that occurs largely out of public sight. Calves transported at 4-7 days old are extremely vulnerable to cold, hunger and disease stress. They have not had time to develop immunity and are highly susceptible to respiratory disease during transport. Killing methods when not well-supervised can cause further pain. The scale of this practice - tens of millions of animals annually - makes it one of the most numerically significant welfare problems in the food system.