The animal activist organisation responsible for creating a controversial online map of Australian farms has released vision from inside a farm owned by the well-known Meredith Dairy, in south-west Victoria.

Key points: Disbudding — the removal of a young goat's horn bud — is standard practice in the commercial dairy goat industry

Disbudding — the removal of a young goat's horn bud — is standard practice in the commercial dairy goat industry Meredith Dairy's owner questioned whether hidden-camera vision showing disbudding had been edited

Meredith Dairy's owner questioned whether hidden-camera vision showing disbudding had been edited Animal activist group Aussie Farms said the vision was released to draw attention to the practise

Vision from a hidden camera, that was released earlier this week, shows young goats' horns being removed — disbudded — at the farm's Lochaber Goat Dairy this month.

Disbudding — when a hot iron is briefly applied to the horn bud — is standard practice on kids within the intensive commercial dairy goat industry.

Meredith Dairy owner Sandy Cameron said the footage, which was anonymously supplied to animal activist group Aussie Farms, showed not only the dehorned goats, but the hospital pen where the sick goats are kept.

"Some of those kids are going to die, some will recover, but they've panned straight from the dehorning kids straight onto that, so it leaves this impression," Mr Cameron said.

"There's one [goat] shown with big scabs on it, which I wonder if they've done that because I've never seen a big raw wound [from the practice]."

Mr Cameron, a vet, said the goats were given meloxicam — a slow-release, pain-relief medication — before the disbudding of their horns.

The vision from the farm was taken from hidden cameras and anonymously supplied to Aussie Farms. ( Supplied: The Aussie Farms Repository )

Suggestions footage edited

Mr Cameron said his main concern was how the vision had been edited.

"I know another goat farm where illegal vision was taken [and] I know that was edited to make things look as bad as they could," he said.

"On a farm, there's always an individual shot taken out of context that will look terrible … that footage was definitely edited to look bad.

"You can splice together bits of film to make almost anything look bad. If this is part of an ongoing campaign I've got to learn to be pretty resilient."

With almost 3,000 goats on the farm, Mr Cameron said he stood by the dehorning practice to protect both the staff and other animals.

"The dream is to breed a polled goat, but that lies in the future," he said.

Mr Cameron said it was inevitable they would be filmed again and said they were open to improving their practices.

"Sometimes we use an anaesthetic, and I've decided we'll always use an anaesthetic from now on," he said.

Meredith Dairy says the goats' horns are removed for the safety of the herd and staff. ( Supplied: Julie Cameron, Meredith Dairy )

'They want us to be intimidated'

Mr Cameron said since the release of the footage, he had received a lot of calls from people associated with extreme animal rights movements.

"They definitely want me to be intimidated, they want all animal farmers to be intimidated, when we show we're angry or intimidated that's what they want, so I just refuse to be," he said.

Mr Cameron said the person who took the vision would have had to illegally enter onto the farm.

"Someone has presumably walked in and done it at night, the footage was taken a day or so before it was released," he said.

"There's no sign of a camera now but I don't know if it's taken with a camera the size of a finger nail or some great big camera, but it's clearly done by people trespassing."

Aussie Farms operations manager Alix Livingstone said the vision was released to draw attention to the situation.

"Meredith Dairy is the second-largest goat dairy in Australia … it's a well-renowned product, so we've decided to release their name so people can see it's not just small rogue operators, it's a systemic issue," she said.

She said the move was to wake the public up to what's happening.

"It's about drawing attention to the fact the farm animals are exempt from the animal protection laws we afford to our companion animals," Ms Livingstone said.

"It's always worrying for whistle blowers to do these kinds of things to obtain this footage but I think it shows how much people want the public to know what's happening."

The removal of young goats' horns by disbudding is standard practice in Australia's intensive commercial industry. ( Supplied: The Aussie Farms Repository )

The tradition of 'whistle blowing'

Member of the Animal Justice Party and the Legislative Council of Western Victoria Andy Meddick said he had no qualms with the farm in his region being singled out.

"We have a proud tradition in this state — and indeed, right across the country — of protecting whistle blowers," Mr Meddick said.

"They expose things that, genuinely speaking, are not going to be exposed to the public.

"This particular farm, this particular industry is not about to put up their own cameras, record the practice and put it out because, quite rightly, most people would think this is a cruel practice."

Member for Western Victoria Beverley McArthur said Aussie Farms' agenda was not about animal welfare but about putting an end to meat production.

"What sort of an operation are we running in this country where people can trespass on private property, invade a farm facility, and possibly breach biosecurity rules and regulations that could endanger the lives of animals?" Ms McArthur said.

She said the release of vision like this created a very worrying situation for farmers, who were invested in their animal's welfare.

"There are practices that, on the surface, look to be unfortunate but that is the nature of agriculture, you do have to do things that are in an animal's interest," she said.