CATTLE MANIA
The American Holocaust Against The Animals - Article Series From The Caring Heart with Dr. Joyce from Spokane Washington

“He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered a swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. (Isaiah 66:3)

Nearly ten billion farm animals are raised in this country every year, and ninety nine percent of those are raised on factory farms. Ninety thousand cattle – steers, cows, and calves – are slaughtered every twenty four hours. The real cost of beef for food is actually very high, much higher than the price per pound in the average supermarket. For example, it takes 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef meat. Added onto gigantic water use, is the price of all the grain the cattle are fed, plus the huge cost of the farming operation itself, plus the slaughter expense, and the final trip to the supermarket, which makes profit off the sale of the beef, too. If beef were not heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, it would cost the average shopper $35.00 per pound!

Cattle to Produce Beef for Food

What is life like for the average cattle individual? Author John Robbins, who wrote The Food Revolution, maintains that more animals are subjected to torturous conditions in the U.S.A. than has ever occurred anywhere in world history. To start with, calves are ripped away from their moms right after birth. They cry terribly, sometimes for days, and some actually die from the separation. According to Dr. Temple Grandin, it is as painful for the cows to have their babies ripped away as it is for human moms to lose their babies. Plus, the newly born calves lose the opportunity to suckle and to bond which are inborn needs.

Then, the real pain begins. Unbelievably, farm animals are exempt from laws that prevent animal cruelty. Cattle raised for beef are branded, their skin seared with hundreds of degrees of heat for several seconds – no anesthetic. They are castrated without pain killers. They are dehorned, again with searing heat to kill the horn buds. They are no doubt able to eat grass when so young, but at several months of age they are deposited in huge, huge lots with even hundreds of thousands of other individuals. No shelter. No grass anymore, but lots of grain to eat, to fatten them up, which is not a natural food for them. They stand in mud, ice, and their own waste up to their knees. Because their whole environment is so infectious, they are given antibiotics. Also, because they live body-to-body, natural behaviors for comfort can’t happen. Exercise is extremely minimal, if any. No lying down in nice grass in the sun! No escape from pelting rain, hail, snow, or driving wind.

Then, when they are heavy enough, they are hauled off to slaughter. Dr. Temple Grandin did outstanding creative work in designing slaughter facilities to make the approach into them much less traumatic for the cattle. That helps, Hopefully, they are rendered totally unconscious by the blow to the head – not always, though. There are many who are fully conscious with their eyes wide open when they are skinned and cut apart. They literally die piece by piece. The lines move fast, 309 to 330 head per hour. Workers are using extremely sharp knives, so that fast work is very dangerous to them and can cause serious injury. Contamination of the meat is not unusual, including fasces and E coli bacteria, which can kill people. 89% of US beef patties has been reported to contain traces of E coli. One burger can contain meat from a dozen or even hundreds of animals, causing the risk of pathogens to be passed down the food chain. The DVD Food, Inc. tells the tragic story of one adorable toddler who ate a burger and died of E-coli poisoning. Watch it!

Milk Cows

Female cattle, called heifers, grow up to be milk producers if they are of the milk producing type, such as Holsteins. They are bred for high production of milk and are usually given growth hormones for additional production. Cows must be repeatedly bred to bear more young, otherwise milk dries up and no more milk comes, until more calves are born. Calves are ripped from their moms immediately, or very soon, after birth, which is terrible for all. Reportedly, 82% of US dairies practice tail docking of cows by burning, emasculating, or constricting the tail with an elastic band until it falls off, causing incredible pain an sometimes also infection. (It would be like somebody cutting off one of our fingers and then just walking off.) Some other countries have outlawed tail docking in dairy cows, but California is the only US state that has outlawed the cruel practice. Of course, cows can no longer use a tail to swish away flies, either, when their tail is gone for life.

Normally, in today’s factory farming world, cows are expected to produce 100 pounds of milk per day, through selective breeding and additional hormones. The massive milk production and hormones easily cause painful mastitis infections which must be treated with antibiotics. The average life expectancy of a dairy cow, under good, normal conditions is about 25 years. On a factory farm, cows are worn out after 4-5 years. When their milk production falls off, they are sent off to slaughter to become hamburger. They get so weak they can’t walk, and are called “downed cattle.” I’ve seen horrible pictures of cows laying in piles, some conscious, some not, and pushed along by tractor front loaders or shocked by electric prods to try to get them up and into slaughter. Organizations have fought to get laws passed restricting the slaughter of downed livestock for food. I’m not sure how that stands at this time.

Of course, with repeated pregnancies and many hours hooked up to milking machines, etc., cows do not have much chance to enjoy behaviors and activities natural to their lives. They have hard, miserable lives and traumatic, painful deaths.

Veal

Female calves born to milk cows grow up to be milk cows themselves, but the dairy industry has no use for male calves born to milk cows. They are not the breeds who put on a lot of muscle to make beef for food for humans. So, these calves are sold to make veal out of. 450,000 veal calves are produced in the US annually. Veal production practices have been strongly criticized because of animal welfare concerns, and practices still widely used in the US are illegal throughout the European Union and in five US states.

The long-time, extensive method of developing male dairy calves, usually Holsteins, into animals whose muscle meat is very tender and light colored – veal - is to confine the calves in rigid, slatted crates measuring 26-30 inches wide by 66 inches long. The hind end is open. The calves are usually tethered to the crates with chains, restricting movement. The calves cannot walk, or turn around, or lay down comfortably. Wooden slats form the floor. They cannot self-groom except for a little up front. They see no sunlight, they breathe no fresh air, they cannot suckle, which is an innate behavior pattern, they cannot socialize, except extremely minimally with the calves imprisoned on either side of them. They have no exercise. Such calves are not fed solid food. They are fed milk replacer in tubs put down before them twice a day. They have an iron-deficient diet to make their meat very light colored. Their mom is not there to bond with.

This disgusting, reprehensible, and horrifying life continues for 18-20 weeks, when they are hauled off to slaughter, which can be extremely painful and traumatic. Stunning the animal doesn’t always work, or last long enough for death to really occur. For example, calves have been known to be lifted up in the air on one leg only, screaming. Electric prods have been used to move them along. Workers have been observed being abusive, and even dragging the poor calves along the floor by their legs.

Their thoroughly abusive upbringing causes many serious problems for the calves. Lack of sunshine and fresh air cause pneumonia. Such extreme confinement causes lameness. Lack of solid food causes diarrhea and can cause intestinal damage, including ulcers. Calves are ruminants, and need to “chew their cud,” but on an all-liquid diet, there is no cud for them to chew. Living in such unnatural, stressful conditions causes a high incidence of stereotypic behaviors, which are an indication their well-being is really compromised. Also, such ongoing stress causes immune system depression, which allows illnesses to take ahold. Many die in process.

There is now a little hope for such hapless, innocent little guys. In some kinder veal producing farms, calves are housed in groups. Sometimes they have to spend a couple of weeks or so in crates, but are then moved to group accommodations. What an improvement! Their misery is lessened so much. They can lay fully down and stretch their legs out completely. They can walk around. They can fully self-groom and socialize with the others. Their cortisone indicators of stress come down. Hopefully, group housing will continue to spread. Many groups of people have objected strongly to the extremely inhumane treatment of veal calves, including legislators, food retailers, consumers, and those in the industry itself. One all-you-can-eat restaurant my relatives liked to go to served veal on Wednesdays. When I noticed that on the menu, I called the manager and complained strongly. I’ve never gone back.

Leather

Besides cattle’s main products of meat and milk, the hides of cattle are also worth a lot of money, because of the many articles that can be made from the leather - clothing, shoes and boots, saddles and other horse tack, sofas, and on and on. Leather articles increase substantially the profits that can be gained from factory farming cattle. More than anytime in human history, we don’t need articles made of leather, because of all the extremely useful types of man-made materials that have been produced. I have a pair of low boots that look exactly like leather. But, a look at the label inside says, “All man-made materials. Made in China.”

What Can We Do?

This little article I have written is just an introduction to inhumane cattle farming practices. I could write an entire book about the horrible treatment of just this one species!

Something I will never forget was seeing, on my computer, a live calf being born. The cow was standing on concrete. A man was behind her with some kind of a long rod. The poor calf came sliding out of the standing cow, landing head first on the hard concrete. What a way to come into the world!

What you and I can do to help is to stay completely away from eating beef and the purchase of milk and leather articles. No butter or yogurt either, or gelatin! We can call or write our legislators demanding positive changes. I’ve decided to get more radical about restauranting, which is the one activity my family likes. Because we have no vegan restaurants in Spokane that I know of, I’m going to stop going to restaurants PERIOD. Even if I go and don’t order meat, I don’t want to bless financially any place that serves meat. Isn’t anybody for eating and socializing at home anymore?

God made cattle beautiful and wonderful. They exist for their own sake.
They surely don’t deserve the pain and misery humans put them through, which is EVIL there again. Serious Christians who are filled with the love of Jesus should not participate in animal cruelty at all, in any way!!

Copyright - Dr. Joyce 2017 - The Caring Heart

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