Footage filmed at a Waikato farm by animal rights group Farmwatch shows a cow suspended from a tractor by "hip clamps".
Farmwatch's John Darroch says they decided to release it publically after giving it to the Ministry of Primary industries nearly a year ago.
Darroch says "We saw that the farmer had come along in the meantime and had dragged the cow across the field with these hip clamps attached to her so that her face and her legs were dragging in the mud and this is illegal. It's a breach of the codes of welfare."
Ministry for Primary Industries claim they take animal welfare issues very seriously.
MPI say during their investigations they have interviewed the farmer at the centre of the footage.
MPI Compliance Operations Manager Gary Orr says, “With regards to the footage that was released yesterday, the assertion that MPI has "done nothing" after receiving this footage is incorrect.”
Lifting a cow by the hip is a common practice when a cow gives birth but under the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare, cows must not be transported by hip clamps.
Gary Orr says, “The investigation is all but complete and a decision is imminent. We will be releasing our findings publicly as and when the inquiry concludes. “