milk vs. white rice, etc.

[Guest guest]

<I actually have a degree in biology and have lived in " we raise cows

for a living areas " and have never seen the cruelty that is

purported.>

I live in Louisiana, which is a " we raise cows for a living " type state. My

great Uncle (until his health declined) had a commercial dairy farm. They lived

chained in stalls inside a barn. Yes, they got mastitis, and were still milked,

and the calves at his farm were slaughtered for " bob " veal when they were born

(He thought that " milk-fed veal " farms were too cruel). The smell was terrible,

and even though the manure was collected once a week, it was allowed to pile up

until then, drawing flies and full of maggots. The milking machines were kept

pretty clean compared to many other farms, but the cows udders were not clean,

so how could the milk be clean? If a cow didn't want to move, it would be

scared, hit, kicked, whatever to make it go where they needed it to. The people

who worked in the barn were illiterate immigrants, and I don't think they were

paid very much. A lot of them seemed to take their aggression out on the cows,

and although I don't think any of the cows

were directly injured by the treatment, they certainly did not like it,

especially the ones with painful, infected udders.

 

<Historically a few cows have lactated without giving birth

and there is legitimate university research to back it up - trust me

when you are working in a university you are SUPER humane because you

are watched from several angles. Also cows like humans can continue

to lactate without giving birth over and over again for years - even

if the calf is allowed to wean naturally. I am sure it does happen,

but I do not think it is as rampant as purported by some.>

 

Yes, a few cows have spontaneously began to lactate, but it is not the norm, and

has nothing to do with the way that they are treated in dairies in order to

force them into giving milk. Milk production is kept high in those settings

because they want to make money, so the cow must be kept pregnant in order to

ensure high milk production. In my brief experience as an animal caretaker in a

lab, and my long-term friendships with researchers, many scientists are not very

humane in their research. They are being watched, but it is usually by their

own committees, the NIH, the USDA, and other groups that are extremely

pro-animal use. There are so many loopholes in the animal welfare act, and farm

animals, rats, birds, fish and mice, who make up over 90% of laboratory animals

are not even covered. Researchers can do whatever they want to these species,

and their experiments are often done " just to do something. "

 

<Animal

abuse laws have been on the book in the US longer that child abuse

laws. >

 

Yes, but again, they are very weak, too many loopholes, and most species are not

covered.

 

<I think some people are out looking for " problems. " I also

believe that some people who are out looking for problems fail to

report on good things. (Like guns in school - if a kid brings a gun

to school every news outlet in town will be there with out with out

proof, if the kids are doing a community service project - do you

hear about it? Do you think there are not good things going on in

schools?) >

 

News stations often report things inaccurately, but when it is the same thing

over and over, and even the people in the industry agree that something happens,

reality shows itself. These companies practically own the country. Celebrities

can be sued for saying they don't like the product (remember Oprah and the beef

industry?), and they sponsor " studies " so they can manipulate the results and

show what they want.

 

<I know people who video chicken plants for hours hoping to

get 1 shot of a chicken being treated cruely (beyond the living in

pens issue) so that anti-chicken people will pay for the footage.

Specifically they are at Purdue (a large chicken farm) is located on

Maryland's Eastern shore. >

 

Slaughter is extremely inaccurate. After all, there are no public tours, so

who cares as long as it's dead on your plate?

 

<Furthermore, whenever something bad

happens - the newsmen are there. The newsmen also are out there

regularly checking - just in case they can get a story (stories =

promotions).>

 

Many news companies are connected in some way to the food industry, so even if

abuse occurs, they aren't going to cover it.

 

<I am in no way for poor treatment, but like other things one bad

apple has runied a whole barrel. Where 1 or a few farms have

mistreated animals - the whole farming industry is held liable. This

can not be true. You would be hearing about it in the local news

regularly - they love this kind of story.>

 

 

 

There are only a few meat/dairy companies in this country, so there are only a

few farms. The point is that when you have living things being treated like

food or money making machines, they aren't going to be treated well. The news

isn't going to cover it, because the animals aren't treated like they are alive

and people don't think of them as anything but a commodity.

 

 

 

 

 

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