Why do they let dairy farmers sell the calves at birth or a few days old? Isn't it cruel?

Question

If they were puppies or kittens PETA and the animal rights activists would scream! (rightly so!) Not only is this cruel but it's unhealthy for the calves. They need their mom's milk to get their immunities right? Is it worth it just to get more milk?? I apologize to dairy farmers, don't mean to insult but really isn't this cruelty???

Well I don't think it wold hurt them to grow up with their mothers at least 3 or 4 weks if not 6! I don't think it matters if they are cute or not or if they are raised for food or not we should still think about the way we treat them while they are in our care! They do not ask to be raised for food and the least we can do considering they will be butchered is treat tehm in a humane manner!

My source is this Fact: Sister-in-law bought them at sale $1 each days old if that. Dairy farmers sell them so the mother's milk is all for the farm I'm told it is common practice by people who go to sales regularly. Babies don't stand much of a chance at this stage there is only 1 left and who knows if he will make it. All efforts to feed and care for them failed. I'm also told that calves allowed to stay with the mother until they can graze don't usually need anti-biotics ect. because they get natural immunities from mom. Sounds like natures way of doing things is better for calf and the resulting meat and dairy.

Answer 1

It is really sad how misinformed people are about the meat and dairy industries.Most people don't even know what a factiry farm is.They think cows graze in huge grass fields grazing and chickens dustbath and pigs play around in mud,they think farms are idylic places,buth they are not,small family farms are being run out by huge factory farms,even when people learn about this they say things like "Man has been meating forever" or "It's just part of life" or "I like meat too much to give it up".I'm vegan cause I'm definetly not gonna support that industry and I know it's not right to treat animals that way,especially when we don't even need to eat meat.

http://meat.org/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6RzuHUCb_SU&mode=related&search=

Answer 2

Can you give a source for your information? Where did it indicate that the farmers were selling calves shortly after birth?

Java honey, if this is happening, I am pretty sure it is NOT for getting more milk. The calves are probably sold for their meat. If you go to the local supermarket, you will see sales on veal and baby beef liver. That's where they end up.

Even if the calves are actually kept to be raised as additional dairy cows, the farmer will want to get them away from the other cows and protect them. They will still be fed milk from the cows as well as any extra vitamins or medicines they might need, and can be monitored and watched more easily.

It may be cruel, but it is a fact of life. Take a look at what happens to the chickens and pigs. Much worse life than the cows, I'd say. If you saw how these animals were treated and slaughtered, you would probably never eat meat again.

Answer 3

No, it is not, calves can be easily cared for without there mothers just a few days after birth. It is actually less cruel than separating mother and child later, after they have had more time to grow attached to each other.

By the way, PETA does fuss over the practice, but the fuss over everything, so it kind of gets lost in the general buzz.

Answer 4

i think of you're in line with undesirable materials of suggestions. people do not slaughter calves at beginning because of fact they're of a milk breed. Take the U. S., someplace around a third of the pork eaten comes from what you will possibly call single purpose dairy animals, commonly holstein. The bull calves are not thrown away. some people have and do use dairy steers for veal calves yet this could nicely be a thoroughly diverse element. they might purchase dairy steers frequently because of fact the dairy farmers sell the calves because of fact they don't choose to boost them themselves. i don't have faith there is something interior the organic and organic dairy standards that require an prolonged era of the calf being with the mummy. you should flow on the USDA website and see your self. As for an assumption of ethics in dairy farming. If somebody defines being ethical as doing issues his way, then he can certainly declare others are unethical. truthfully, frequently persons are advertising a faith whilst they start conversing like that. case in point the thought this is extra ethical to depart calves for an prolonged volume of time with their mothers. the place does that come from? might this is extra ethical to depart toddlers with their mothers who're giving them for adoption for an prolonged time so they are in a position to bond and then come and take the infant? Why might that be extra ethical? Why is it extra ethical to have a calf with this is mom for an prolonged time? nicely the only easy reason is somebody has desperate that for the time of his opinion, this is extra ethical. according to danger he's associating it with a gaggle of administration practices that extremely are not assoiciated with it. Like thinking that removing the calf early potential it is going to not get colostrum and the immunological protection it provides the calf. nicely it somewhat is not actual. i don't be attentive to any dairy farmers who do not verify each and every calf gets colostrum. it somewhat is in simple terms one occasion. i'm hoping that what you're commonly experiencing is somebody is asserting they're ethical and others are not and commonly it somewhat is a revenues gadget to get you to purchase their product. i don't discover the practice to be very ethical in itself, yet you're able to desire to make your guy or woman determination. Marv

Answer 5

Yes. But most everything we humans do to one another and the animal kingdom is cruel.

This is a very cruel world.

We abort babies, small innocent children and infants have to endure years of mental, physical, emotional abuse by parents, caretakers, teachers, instructors, police, firemen, politicians, priests, churchmembers, not to mention the drugs that are enforced on children when they dont behave just right.

Need I say more?

Its a cruel world, get used to it, because from what I can tell, it's not going to be changing anytime soon.

Answer 6

No, It's not cruel. It's a fact of life that we must feed the masses of humans on this planet. What would be cruel would be to save some animals and starve the humans. There are already too many humans (mostly children) who are STARVING on this planet. If you want to shed a tear...do it for them, not a cow.

Answer 7

because the vast majority of people don't care about how the food on their plate got there.. asking whether it's cruel is pointless, the meat industry is cruetly that's been intergrated into society.
there was a famous quote, I don't remember from who, that whent: if slughterhouses had glass walls, the entire world would be vegetarian.

Answer 8

whats cruel? we breed them to eat....thats it, in it's own way that is cruel, does it really matter if the cow lived for 3 years before being slaughtered?. the only animals that people fight for are the cute and cuddly ones. no one cares about cows, chickens, pigs, or sheep. these are animal that we breed for the sole purpuse of feeding us.......so really unless your going to give up eating meat for the restof your ife who cares?

Answer 9

The calves don't actually need any milk. The calves don't tend to live very long. Ever heard of veal?

Answer 10

That's cruel, I personally will never eat veal