CATTLE king turned super butcher Zanda McDonald is preparing for one of the most important musters of his career – herding as many customers as possible through his South East Queensland discount meat chain in the lead up to Christmas…
….Such a massive presence in the industry comes with considerable marketing clout but also exposure to the wider community, many of whom have little idea how beef is produced and now theoretically number among Mr McDonald’s important retail customers.
It’s partly why the MDH operation has partnered with Bayer and the University of NSW to trial a spray-on anaesthetic applied during the de-horning and hot iron branding of calves.
Mr McDonald said the use of pain relief during on-farm procedures was crucial in the selling of beef to customers who want to be reassured the beef they are consuming has been produced with regard to safeguarding animal welfare.
“Since the live export debacle last year, it’s really brought it home that animal welfare groups are going to target practices like de-horning, branding and castration here in Australia,” he said.
“From a commercial perspective we can see a fantastic opportunity by being able to stand up with our hands on our hearts and say we have been one of the first cattle companies in the world to do something serious about this important animal welfare issue.” READ MORE