One of Australia’s largest agricultural competitions was engulfed in scandal on Tuesday after farmers were caught injecting fluids into their animal’s udders to make them look bigger.
Royal Queensland Show organisers said two cattle owners and two professional ”fitters”, who prepare cows to make them more appealing to judges, have been banned for trying to cheat by udder-tampering.
The Royal National Association (RNA) said that security patrolling the Brisbane show ground on Sunday had caught the four injecting Jersey and Holstein dairy cows.
”It’s beyond my comprehension that anyone would do this but it’s to enhance the performance, to make the udders bigger and more beautiful, and that’s a plus in the judging criteria,” RNA president Vivian Edwards said.
Police charged one of the farmers with failing to dispose of one of the syringes properly, a breach of strict Australian hygiene laws relating to sharp objects such as needles and scalpels.
The offending owners, and their cows, have been sent home in disgrace.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said further charges will be laid if it can be proved that any of the cows endured pain as a result of udder-tampering because that will constitute animal cruelty.
Edwards said it is the first time participants have been banned from the show but rumours and complaints about udder-tampering have been rife for years.
The RSPCA there were allegations at previous shows that farmers had sealed cows’ teats with glue to prevent leakage and enlarge udders.
Police are trying to determine the substance injected into the udders. — Sapa-AFP