- The easiest way to kill a baby male calf is to separate
him from his mother, then drag the thrashing infant to a ditch and shoot
him in the brain with your gun.
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- How widespread is this practice? You'll be sadly surprised.
No, you'll be shocked.
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- On Wednesday October 20, 1999, I wrote the following:
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- BABY COW TORTURE CHAMBER
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- Once upon a time in America, or, shooting the bull with
America's dairymen.
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- The Humane Slaughter Act was passed so that farm animals
would be "humanely killed" by compassionate killers with sharp
knives, rather then by sadistic fiends taking pleasure in causing pain
to defenseless creatures.
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- Oh well, little seems to have changed regarding man's
inhumanity to lower life forms.
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- On Thursday, October 14, 1999, on page 6B, the Florida
Sun Sentinel reported the horrible results of an undercover investigation.
I predict that the tape will not be shown on "60 Minutes."
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- What was captured on film revealed a dairy farm employee
dragging, kicking, and shooting 13 newborn calves. The farm was identified
as McArthur Farms in Okeechobee County.
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- Why are calves born? To keep their moms producing milk.
If calves are unlucky enough to be born male, feed costs no longer justify
raising these darling creatures for veal.
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- The state of Florida has decided not to pursue animal
cruelty charges against McArthur Farms or its employees. The state reasons
that killing unwanted or sick calves is not unusual at dairy farms.
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- Undercover investigators videotaped a McArthur farm employee
on Jan. 23 taking day-old calves from a truck, tossing them into a muddy
pit and shooting them with a small-caliber pistol. Many were left to thrash
and suffer for up to 10 minutes.
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- The state attorney general reasoned:
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- "It is legally acceptable to kill the unwanted calves
or sick animals. The question is did they do it in a humane method? By
looking at this tape, we determined that it wasn't."
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- ______________
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- During eight years of researching and writing about milk
and dairy issues, today's column has been the most painful for me to write.
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- If you, like most consumers, vegetarians, and animal
rights activists, assume that baby male calves are sold for veal, then
you are sadly mistaken.
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- There are approximately 9.15 million cows being milked
in America. On average, a milking cow gives birth once every sixteen months.
That's the industry turn-around, with all things (disease, production,
etc.) being factored. So, 6.8 million calves are birthed during each 12
month period. Half of those calves are born female, and are raised to become
milking cows like their mothers. Some 3.4 million calves are male.
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- Are these infant male bovines fated to live their short
lives in confinement crates, raised anemic so that their flesh contains
little fat, while these animals live tortured lives? Well, sure. That's
the way it's done to satisfy restaurant patron's craving for baby flesh,
or veal.
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- How many of the 3.4 million bulls are sold as veal?
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- Less than one out of five, or about 650,000.
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- In 1986, 1.2 million of these male cows were sold as
veal, but as people become more aware of the terrible injustices of raising
innocent victims for veal consumption, there has been a politically correct
rejection of veal. Unfortunately, baby male calves continue to be birthed.
What happens to unwanted baby male calves?
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- What happens to the other four out of five infant males
who are not raised and sold for veal? This truth is going to get ugly for
those who have the ability to feel.
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- The major cost of raising baby males for veal is the
price of feed.
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- A typical baby male calf weighing 100 pounds is sold
at the age of one-week. These animals are fed for four months, during which
they each gain about 2.5 pounds per day. They are then sold at cattle auctions.
If the price of veal is $1.70 per pound, a farmer will lose about $100
during the process.
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- Here are this week's wholesale prices for veal.
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- www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/NW_LS452.TXT
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- The USDA report reflects that a 245 pound Slaughtered
carcass, hide and head removed, yields approximately $210, or about 86
cents per pound.
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- Dairy farmers no longer approach the break even point.
Dairy farmers cannot afford to feed male calves. Bulls do not make great
pets.
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- Raising veal is a big money loser.
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- Most farmers know this. What do you imagine happens to
2,650,000 baby male calves? Can you wildest dream approach the true nightmare?
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- Hint: They are not shipped to Pamplona to run through
the streets and then appear in bull fights. Hint: They do not appear on
Wall Street, or in Merril Lynch commercials. Hint: They are not put out
to stud, because most cows are artificially inseminated.
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- If you have yet to come to terms with the scientific
facts that support a NotMilk regimen, perhaps you can examine issues of
compassion, as they apply to your ability to face facts.
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- When eating your next slice of pizza, or licking your
next ice cream cone, take responsibility for creating that demand which
results in more animals dying in the above-described manner.
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- Ninety percent of the cows milked in America are of the
black and white variety. Most are Holsteins. Some are mixed breeds, brown
Swiss mixed with Holsteins.
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- Drive through cattle country and see the black angus
grazing through America's heartland. Visit the feed lots and you see few
(if any) Holstein males.
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- This dirty secret is an unwritten rule of an industry
that paints tranquil scenes on milk cartons. Do not let the public know.
There are thousands of "players" keeping this horror to themselves.
A 21st century holocaust of torture and death, pain and emotional distress,
occurring away from your sight. Even when video documentation occurs, as
it did two years ago, no television station would violate that unwritten
rule which would hurt their bottom lines.
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- Your bottom line is to always take responsibility for
your actions. You may not pull the trigger of that gun. You may not witness
the suffering or pain. You do not watch the animal cry, then die. Consume
dairy products, and you become the executioner.
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- Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
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