GSPCA: lobby the States on cow-tethering
Friday 22nd March 2013, 5:00PM GMT.
LOBBYING the States is the only way to ban tethering, according to the GSPCA.
Reports of tied-up cows outside in the blizzard last week meant that the GSPCA was ‘inundated’ with calls.
Manager Steve Byrne said volunteers at the centre who had 4×4 vehicles went to check on the condition of animals in the worst of the weather.
‘Concerns we had were passed on to the owners or farmers. What we would like to see is contingency plans in place for very severe cases of weather.’
Tethering restricts animals from being able to fully express normal behaviour, he said, although he conceded that animals kept indoors also lost freedoms that tied animals gained.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Friday 24 May
- Aurigny looking at jet option
- Win a holiday in Paris
- Lookback - Wrecked on Gross Rocque
- Channel Islands news
- Simpson beaten by squash no. 1
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
I’m yet to see any definitive evidence that tethering harms livestock.
Unless this can be proven, the practice should continue. It makes good use of headland and gets the cows out of a shed and into the sunshine.
Report abuse
The two in the photo look quite content
I suppose the alternative is to let them loose so that they can wander over the cliff edge
Report abuse
As if our present Government could make such a crucial decision without ten years of debate, consulting endless outsider experts and setting up countless sub committees.
THEY`RE CATTLE FOR GOD`S SAKE, BORN TO DIE FOR THEIR MILK PRODUCTION AND FOR EATING.
Report abuse
I can understand the concern being left out in extreme conditions but the criticism of tethering as such – tethering was obviously the best means of sustaining the available grazing land.
This economic use of pasture is more important nowadays with so many people screaming (successfully) for more and more houses. Has the GSPCA ever come out in protest at use of pasture land being taken up by housing and thus depriving the cows?
Report abuse
Tethered cows in adverse weather with no shelter must have some effect if they produce milk.A cow will turn against the wind,will stand up when it rains or snows,walk around in circles when there is no more grass to eat or just sit down and wait to me moved.
Can a farmer tell us if milk yeilds go down in adverse weather conditions.The minimum height of grass to be tethered in open fields during winter when grass goes dormant.How much hay does each cow require during the day.
This topic is good publicity for the world renowed GUERNSEY COW for its breeding
Report abuse
There’s an old maxim which says that in the winter, your cattle feed feeds the weather. It all comes down to skill and practical common sense. But..don’t forget how that snow caught us out; it didn’t give much time to move a herd of cows, contingency plan or not.Keep ‘em well fed and watered; acclimatised to being outside and not factory farmed, they’re tougher than many imagine.
Report abuse
How did the snow catch people out? It was forecast three/four days before it fell and a severe weather warning was in place the day before.
What needs to be done here is to get people to actually take notice of the weather.
I don’t know which website/news channel people use but most are innacurate.
BBC for example provides regional forecasts. The channel islands are lumbered in with the South West of the UK. They didn’t get any where near as much snow as we did on the Monday.
Use this link for the most accurate weather for Guernsey and Jersey.
http://www.metoffice.gov.gg
Report abuse
Guernsey cattle are renowned for their hardiness all be it in cold/wet or harsh dry climates where all are tethered. But they do good given adequate water & food
Milk yields will go down due to weather stress, they have to look after themselves 1st and owner 2nd
Report abuse
GSPCA, take your well-meaning but misguided intentions, butt out and leave the subject of cow tethering to the people who actually know something about the subject and about livestock welfare. That is to say, the farmers.
Report abuse
Further to previous answers and in follow up to the persistent publication of letters from what appears to be a highly vocal minority….
The dear lady in today’s (10/4/13) diatribe expressed concern at this poor cow having got the tyre used to hold the water bucket stuck on ‘her’ head on L’Ancresse. Firstly…her was a him…the horns tend to give it away on Guernsey cattle. Secondly….being a member of a family that has kept cattle tethered on the common for several decades…..the tyre on the horns was for amusement…of the cow, not a human I must add. Cattle, believe it or not do like to play. Over the years I have had many calls from the public and police alike (until they learned their subject matter) regarding this issue. The simple fact is that if you go and remove the tyre from the animals head, it will invariable scoop it up before you have even returned to the vehicle. I actually have a great photo of the cow in question with a tyre ‘earing’ on either side. It amuses them, perhaps perversely because they enjoy the fuss and misinterpretation of suffering from the misinformed? Please appreciate that that addition of tyres to stabilise water buckets was the sole, I repeat sole recommendation following an extensive and expensive visit by the States Vet to ascertain the condition and welfare of the animals. This visit was an attempt to finally silence the idiots and misinformed busy-bodies whom despite knowing little about animal physiology, biology or history repeatedly compare the conditions which they live in to their own reaction or requirements as human beings. I’m not saying that the animals are in any way inferior, just that you cannot compare the conditions which would make a human uncomfortable with conditions that the animal is designed to be suited to. I particularly like the repeated references to ‘those cold souls’. Any person with an ounce of cow-knowledge would know that the have a well documented gastric system with four stomachs. As ruminants they are renowned for producing huge amounts of methane, generated largely through bacterial fermentation. This is effectively a central heating system. Anyway, I digress, cattle tethered on the common have a significantly higher standard of welfare over and above that required by law, locally or in UK/Europe. (which I agree with). We do need animal welfare laws that are appropriate to the island and its inhabitants/customs and global welfare standards. We don’t need misinformed tree-huggers repeatedly filling the press with over-emotional conjecture and ignorant interpretation that flies in the face of scientific knowledge.
my tuppence. A La Perchoine.
Report abuse