Until recently, sick goat kids were not always treated. There was a required waiting period of at least 28 days for medication. In other words, the goat kids may only be slaughtered 28 days after treatment. However, most goat kids are slaughtered at a very young age (1-5 weeks), as a result of which the use of medication was limited.
Due to the efforts of the LTO (Dutch Agricultural and Horticultural Association), there is now an exemption regulation for about a dozen different medications (article only available in Dutch), resulting in a shorter waiting time. This means that dairy goat farmers will treat goat kids faster. Compliments to LTO for their efforts!
Since 2017, Eyes on Animals has been working on the welfare of goat kids – carrying out inspections, encouraging the industry to reduce mortality in goat kids and improve their overall welfare.
