Calves, believed to be as young as two to three weeks old, were beaten and jumped on by workers, undercover footage taken in French coastal city Cherbourg has shown.
The shocking violence was captured at a resting post in the process of transporting the animals from Ireland to mainland Europe.
After receiving 'multiple blows', some of the calves can be seen collapsing in the footage taken as part of an investigation into the treatment of live exports.
Warning: the following footage contains distressing scenes of violence.This is reportedly the first time violence of this nature, inflicted on animals sent to Europe, has been captured by undercover cameras. The harrowing video shows a worker casually using a rod to hit the young animals.
The calves are also seen being grabbed by the ears before being dragged to the feeders. While the animals drink, the worker continues to hit them, even slamming one to the ground.
Another calf is aggressively pulled away from a feeder before being beaten and roughly shoved back. However, the most distressing moment in the clip is that of the worker stamping on a calf.
Animal rights organisations L214 and Eyes on Animals were responsible for releasing the footage, stating that the calves were clearly exhausted by the 18-hour journey from Rosslare to Cherbourg.
Nicola Glen, of Eyes on Animals, said: "The calves were suffering stomach upsets, especially diarrhoea, and were already very weak, suffering exhaustion, lack of feed, lack of water and lack of rest due to overcrowding."
According to reports in the French media, a man has been arrested for cruelty.
This is the moment a vegan chained herself to railings in a slaughterhouse while comforting a shackled calf:
