Warning: This story contains disturbing details about a violent attack on an animal

Mounties are investigating after a newborn calf was the victim of a brutal attack and abduction at a Langley dairy farm.

The owner of Eagle Acres Dairy told CTV News Thursday she and her family found a blood trail and arrows leading away from a calving pen on the morning of Aug. 1.

"We knew it wasn't dragged away by an animal. Nothing like that has ever happened before either," Erin Anderson said.

That's when the owners of the family-run farm thought to review footage from security cameras they had recently set up.

According to Anderson, the video shows a man shooting arrows at a five-day-old calf.

"It's still standing at that point, so the guy enters the barn, rips one of the arrows out of it and proceeds to stab it multiple times," she said.

A woman appeared to be accompanying him, but never entered the barn, Anderson added.

"We were mortified," she said. "We were all sitting there dumbfounded around the computer just watching somebody brutally kill a calf and then drag it out of the barn still kicking, still alive."

The RCMP confirmed Thursday that it is investigating the incident, which was reported at around 8 a.m. on Aug.1.

Cpl. Holly Largy said the animal seemed to be alive when it was loaded into the back what appeared to be a luxury sedan, but both she and Anderson presumed the calf would have later died of its injuries.

Police said that, unfortunately, investigators likely won't be able to identify the suspects or make out the licence plate number of their vehicle based on the security images provided by the farm.

"I'm hoping that we'll be able to do some zooming in on the photos a little bit, but right now we really don't have very much to go on," Largy said. "It obviously appears extremely targeted in that they came into the property and took the youngest calf that they had."

Anderson echoed that assessment, saying "they knew where that pen was and they parked right beside it."

Largy said in these kinds of cases, charges of causing unnecessary suffering under the Cruelty to Animals chapter of the Criminal Code are possible.

Police are asking the public to review the security images. Anyone with information that could advance the case is encouraged to contact the RCMP.

In the meantime, Anderson said the incident has her family confused and concerned.

"We felt horrible. Our job is to protect these animals and we'd obviously failed," she said. "We were also scared for our own safety. What if we'd come across this person? We all came into the barn right after this happened."

Anderson said her farm is relatively open to the public and aims to educate people on where their food comes from. While she said the attack "erodes our trust," she intends to continue that practice.

"With all the negativity there is online that people can find about farming, we need to be that positive force that they can come to and find out what's real and what's right and ask us those questions, so we do need to stay open and we will stay open," she said.

Eagle Acres also shared the security photos on Facebook Thursday and is asking anyone with information to come forward.