• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • EYES ON ANIMALS – Watching out for their Welfare
  • English
  • Nederlands
  • Deutsch

Eyes on Animals

Watching out for their Welfare

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
DONATE
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Our team
    • Key Figures
    • Our Vision
    • Contact
  • News
    • Latest news
    • Good news
    • Bad news
    • Featured news
    • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Inspections
    • Farms
    • Markets
    • Transports
    • Slaughterhouses
    • Special projects
    • Other
  • Training
    • Police
    • Truck drivers
    • Poultry-catchers
    • Slaughter personnel
    • Training Material
    • Request a training
  • Industry Tips
    • Animal transport
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
    • Slaughterhouses
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
      • Ritual slaughter
    • Educational videos
  • Publications
    • In the media
      • Print
      • Television
      • Radio
      • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • Special reports
    • Training Material
    • Annual reviews
  • Help us
Home » News » Slaughter of very young goat-kids to end in 2025

Slaughter of very young goat-kids to end in 2025

October 12, 2022

Partly because of our efforts the sector has drawn up a plan to put a stop to the transportation and slaughter of extremely young goat-kids. From 2025 dairy goat farmers will have to fatten all (100%) of their goat-kids up until a minimum of 2 weeks of age. In 2023 this needs to be at least 25% and in 2024 a minimum of 50%. Two weeks is indeed still too young and does not seem positive at all. The industry however states that raising the minimum age to two weeks (instead of the legal minimum of 1 week), will motivate farmers to fatten their kids to the age of 5 weeks as this is financially more attractive. Although 5 weeks is still too young, at this age the goat-kids are better able to withstand stress and longer periods without milk. Of course it remains important that these goat-kids are well taken care of at the dairy goat farm. This will be monitored by way of mortality rates. 

In 2020 Eyes on Animals drew attention to the welfare of goat-kids via Radar TV show, with an extensive research report and via politics. Many goat-kids ( especially males, but also females) are transported to the slaughterhouse when they are just 7-14 days old. Eyes on Animals inspected these transports. We documented how vulnerable these goat-kids are; they are still unstable on their feet and often collapse on the loading ramp. The transports times are long because goat-kids (and culled dairy goats) are picked up at multiple farms. At the slaughterhouse the goat-kids are often weakened due to the long journey and waiting times without milk. We also found problems with the stunning and bleeding out. 

Evidence drawn from our investigations in 2017 had already resulted in an action plan to lower the mortality rate among male kids on dairy farms. Also, the registration requirements regarding the birth of goat-kids have been tightened up (to better monitor mortality rates) and the waiting time for medication has been relaxed so that male kids can be treated easier in case of disease. We want to thank the sector for their efforts and will keep monitoring the progress closely.  

  • share 
  • share 
  • share 
  • save 
  • email 

Filed Under: Good news, News Tagged With: animal welfare improvements, animal welfare inspection, slaughterhouses

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured

Dutch transport company Van Os implicated in serious transport fraud involving Irish calves

Once again, serious violations have been uncovered in the transport of calves from Ireland. Last … [Read More...] about Dutch transport company Van Os implicated in serious transport fraud involving Irish calves

Featured

EonA talks at European Parliament in Brussels

February 19, 2025

Today we gave a talk at the European Parliament. We were invited by MEPs Anja Hazekamp and Sebastien … [Read More...] about EonA talks at European Parliament in Brussels

Our most recent newsletter

Dear friends,

It’s not every day that an animal-welfare organization takes on the challenge of redesigning a large pig slaughterhouse and their animal handling techniques, but that’s exactly what we did in 2020.

Read more…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe

* indicates required

Eyes on Animals op Twitter

eyes_on_animals Eyes on Animals @eyes_on_animals ·
14 Feb

🤔 Dit blijft toch een hele rare zin….
- NVWA schorst erkenning slachthuis na dood 22 geitenbokjes - Nieuwe Oogst

Reply on Twitter 1890485234031898798 Retweet on Twitter 1890485234031898798 5 Like on Twitter 1890485234031898798 9 Twitter 1890485234031898798
nieuweoogstnl Nieuwe Oogst @nieuweoogstnl ·
14 Feb

Vanaf volgende week verkoopt @JumboSupermarkt drie variaties plantaardige yoghurt die zijn gemaakt op basis van in Nederland geteelde sojabonen. De yoghurtvariaties zijn ontwikkeld door De Nieuwe Melkboer. #sojabonen

Reply on Twitter 1890391293144023408 Retweet on Twitter 1890391293144023408 2 Like on Twitter 1890391293144023408 2 Twitter 1890391293144023408
eyes_on_animals Eyes on Animals @eyes_on_animals ·
14 Feb

🐐🐏 Geen verrassing, dit slachthuis heeft ons ook nooit binnen willen laten en dat is meestal een veeg teken.
Goed werk @_NVWA ! #slacht

Reply on Twitter 1890334519602884612 Retweet on Twitter 1890334519602884612 26 Like on Twitter 1890334519602884612 65 Twitter 1890334519602884612
Load More...

ANBI

Footer

Donate with Paypal

Paypal Eyes on Animals
One-time donation:
Monthly donation:

Reading Material

  • In the Media
  • Newsletters
  • Special EonA reports
  • Legislative texts
  • ANBI

Our Amsterdam Office

Amsterdam House Hotel
Eyes on Animals main office is in downtown Amsterdam, at the Amsterdam House Hotel. The generous and warm-hearted hotel owner donated to Eyes on Animals, free of charge, a beautiful room where our inspectors can work, hold meetings and store their material.

Copyright © 2025 · Eyes on Animals | Website by Webkompaan