Dairy industry in Australia:
Many of us don't give a second thought to where the milk in our latte or the cheese in our sandwich comes from.
But as the saying goes, there's a little bit of meat in every drop of milk. Behind the dairy industry lies a brutal secret: the 700,000 or so "bobby calves" slaughtered each year in this country at as young as five days of age.
Dairy cows are impregnated yearly in order to produce milk for human consumption. But their male calves are "surplus to needs".
Most will be destined for the slaughterhouse within days of birth. Bobby calf meat is considered to be of low value and is predominantly exported as ground beef and offal to Japan and the US.
Others will be killed several months later, after they have been fattened up for veal.
Female calves are retained to follow in the footsteps of their mothers or, if not viable as dairy cows, will also be swiftly consigned to the abattoir.
Bobby calves endure long stretches of transport to regional abattoirs. This is a major stressor for any food animal, and even more so for calves, who are physiologically immature, with limited fat reserves, poorly developed ability to maintain body temperature and a lack of responsiveness to external stimuli.
Trucks can be overloaded, without bedding or room to lie down.
Calves are lifted and dragged by their tails or legs, or in some instances electrically prodded to get them moving. Many remain overnight, without sustenance, in the abattoir before they are slaughtered.
It is well established that cows, like humans, are sentient beings. They feel pain, distress, fear, vulnerability, loneliness, grief, hunger and thirst.
Mother cows form a strong maternal bond with their babies from as little as five minutes of contact after birth. Early separation of mother cows from their young causes stress, which is often manifested by distressed calling. Calves are traumatised after being taken from their mothers shortly after birth.
It is a forlorn picture. These newborn animals are utterly defenceless, and totally beholden to us. To serve our desire for cow's milk we bring them into being, with all their capacity to feel and their complex subjectivity, and then kill them pitilessly, as if they were the insensible by-product of an industrial machine.
The bobby calf trade exemplifies all that is ethically perverse in animal agribusiness.
Now, to make matters worse, the Australian government is proposing an amendment to livestock standards that will legalise the starvation of bobby calves for 30 hours before their slaughter.
Currently the unenforceable Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: Land Transport of Cattle provides that calves should be fed within six hours of transportation and must not be left without appropriate liquid food for more than 10 hours.
The arguments being used to support the amendment are just as wrong-headed as the trade itself.
In the end, they boil down to reducing costs for the industry, and, as is so often the case, the government is onside with agribusiness.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/brutal-secret-behind-the-dairy-industry-20110128-1a7tb.html#ixzz2ac73Jve5
They advocate regulating the industry. I advocate abolishing the industry totally. There is a Complete difference between these approaches.
There is no "humane" breeding and murder of cows. You can't kill a sentient being "humanely", since the sentient being doesn't want to be killed by humans. I believe in this approach to Animal rights: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/
Note, the solution is not regulating the animal exploitation-industry, the solution is to totally abolish it. There are no "humane" transports to slaughter, there are no "humane" slaughter houses, there are no "humane" confinement of cows, and no "humane" separation and destroying of families.
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Separation of mother cows with their calves:
Quote from the Australian dairy industry's website:
Calf welfare is improved by removing it from the cow within 12 hours of birth and applying the 3-step calf rearing plan to reduce the risk of infection
“Research suggests that separating cow and calf as early as possible reduces the stress on both as there will be minimal bonding between them.
It is also easier to teach the calf to drink milk from a bucket or artificial teat. This ensures it receives enough high quality milk (including colostrum) to keep it healthy.
Calves should be removed from the cow within 12 hours of birth to:
• reduce the risk of getting diseases from adult cattle, and
• lower the stress for the cow and calf “
Quote: http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Animals-feed-and-environment/Animal-welfare/Calf-welfare/Managing-calf-welfare.aspx
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That is totally bias that any sentient being would benefit of becoming forcefully separated to her mother.
They are only separating the cows and their calves to increase the profit.
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Slaughterhouses:
There is a reason why they don't want anyone to film inside of the building, and don't allow this to take place.
Slaughterhouses are cruel per definition. It is always a cruel action to take the life of a healthy sentient being, who doesn't want to be killed by us.
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