Is Veal cruel?

Question

Why is it cruel to eat Veal but fine to eat Lamb? If one is acceptable why is the other not?

Answer 1

Because of positive pressures on the industry to cease the caged confinement of veal calves, there are many more options that allow you to buy veal that is cared for in a more humane manner.
At the end of the attached article, there are sources for purchasing veal that addresses your concerns.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/dining/18veal.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Answer 2

Veal Is Cruel

Answer 3

Not all veal is cruel. In Europe veal is still produced in the ways everyone has described, and it is horrible.

In the UK veal is not produced in the same conditions, and only pink veal is available. It is raised in far more humane conditions, and in my opinion is infinitely preferable to the alternatives - calves being shot on birth or being exported to Europe. This website gives balanced information about it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/veal.shtml

I don't have any issue with UK reared veal or lamb. I am happy that UK legislation stops cruel practise being the norm.

For me, the message is simple - just buy British.

Answer 4

Yes, it can be cruel. Veal calves are treated pretty differently to lambs. They're isolated , they can have dietary restrictions in order to create the pale meat and various other things which can effect their health and behaviour.
I think Animal Welfare is trying to change the way veal calves are raised so maybe ask before you eat.

Answer 5

With most veal farming (particularly Dutch), the calves are kept in crates where they can barely move and they are fed only milk to keep their flesh white.
Lambs are always free range!
Therefore - Veal calves are farmed in cruel conditions, Lambs gambol around in the fields. I'd rather eat lamb.

Answer 6

The breeding of veal is cruel the eating of veal should be banned ( in my opinion )
Veal (baby cows up to 6 weeks old are force fed milk as their only diet to keep their meat white. Once 6 weeks old they are slaughtered for meat.
Lamb is not force fed at all

Answer 7

Most veal available now is what is described as "Pink" veal and most of it is bull calves,that are a byproduct of the dairy industry. If they could not be used to produce veal, they would be disposed of at birth.

Answer 8

Even as an omnivore, I think the way veal is typically raised is totally cruel. There is a movement among farmers in the area where I live toward pasture raised veal. For a meat that essentially tastes like nothing, it seems like a major expense with very little reward. Chickens shouldn't be raised in boxes either

Answer 9

Veal comes from a milk raised calf, they used to be penned individualy untill laws changed and said they have to be penned together, but some pens that some cruel farmers keep 2 calfs in are only big enough for one.

I am very picky on meat and only eat lamb, and pig i only rearly eat meat from a cow.

Answer 10

Veal calves have traditionally been raised in extremely inhumane conditions, whilst lambs are usually raised in a much less cruel way.

The idea of traditional veal farming is to keep the meat as tender and pale as possible whilst getting a decent yield of meat (very young calves are the ideal but they don't give as much meat); so they are kept in tiny crates for the whole of their short life, isolated from other cows (they are social animals so this is unnatural for them), in the dark (to keep their meat pale), and are fed only milk (or special milk-based feeds) when they really need solids. They end up malnourished (they are kept deliberately anaemic in order to keep the meat pale) and unhappy (well, wouldn't you be if you'd been raised in a small, dark crate?!).

However, standards have improved and many farmers now raise veal calves more humanely. I don't know where you are in the world, but apparently British veal is generally more humane than that from continental Europe (we've had a ban on traditional veal farming since 1990), and if it's organic it's likely to have much higher welfare standards. Various laws have been passed in many countries to improve conditions for veal calves, but they are still far from ideal (I think the European law specifies a minimum size for the crates, and only calves under 8 weeks can be kept in individual pens).

Having said that, most veal calves are still reared in conditions that are far from truly humane, so unless the veal you are eating is organic, free range veal (or reared to some other stringent welfare standard) it probably hasn't had a particularly happy life.