Heartbreaking moment mother cow chases her calves down the street

A distressed cow has been filmed chasing her calves down the street as they travel in a cage on the back of a trailer.

The footage was captured by a concerned onlooker in New Zealand and shared with the welfare organisation Safe.

Many suggested the calves might have been put in the cage to help move the mother to another pasture, but Safe said this might not be the case.

"The person who sent us this clip told us the calves were in an enclosure with no cows for a couple of days afterwards, and then disappeared," a Safe spokesperson wrote.

"Like other mammals, a mother cow must give birth in order to produce milk. In the dairy industry calves are taken from their grieving mothers at hours old.

"Some are kept as replacements for their mothers, or reared for meat, and in New Zealand, a shocking approximately 2 million are killed as young as four days of age."

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The organisation said whether the animals were simply being transported to another pasture or being separated, the footage shows the "strong emotional bond."

The footage shows the car with its hazard lights on slowly towing the trailer with three calves on board as the mother follows.