The killing of calves is absolutely standard practice in all methods of dairy farming. The male being a by product of his mother's continued forced pregnancy cycles, deemed useless due to his lack of profitability. Then humans step in to steal and sell the milk intended for him from the grieving mother. The fortunate female calves meanwhile get to become the grieving, exploited mothers of tomorrow.
The less said about Jimmy Doherty's cynical pushing of how cute and innocent the slaughtered calves are the better. His conclusion as a farmer is that they should instead be kept around longer and then dished up as "rose veal", a position the ever toothless RSPCA and CIWF support. Sensationalism and self-promotion in the total absence of any consistent ethical foundation.
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| Cute... and sentient. |
It never fails to surprise how ill informed the public currently is regarding how other animals are needlessly used on their behalf. That the big animal welfare charities have solicited huge amounts of money and single issue petition signatures but neglected to educate on the very fundamentals of egg and dairy production is hugely telling. The failure assures that basic, grassroots, vegan advocacy performed by individuals will be vital to countering comforting, childhood myths many still hold regarding Old McDonald and his farm.
Remember vegetarians that if you demand dairy products then you also by default demand the killing of calves to produce them. This certainly makes for a puzzling irony regarding the avoidance of rennet in cheese, which after all is made from the stomach lining of slaughtered calves.
Don't want cows, calves or any other animals exploited and killed on your behalf? Go vegan.
Brilliant take on this topic, always love your views. Love the new look blog by the way.
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I totally agree with your comments. There should be more hard-hitting, factual TV programmes to expose the intense cruelty of the factory farming practice. Perhaps then more people would wake up to the realities of how their neatly packaged food and drink products are really obtained!! Sandra
ReplyDeleteThank you both very much for your comments. We totally agree Sandra that knowledge is power.
ReplyDeleteI don't get how they think it is better for the calves to be kept around a bit longer then killed. On utilitarian grounds you could just about make an argument for it - note the 'just about' - but then you can also make utilitarian arguments for doing all sorts of horrible things to humans. Maybe the idea is to get them past the cute baby stage so the public will accept it more...
ReplyDeleteAgreed LiseyDuck. The root of the concerns of Jimmy, CIWF, RSPCA etc is that they are too cute at that stage and should be used more profitably later at a supposedly less cute stage. It's so manipulative and empty a gesture.
ReplyDeleteGreat article as always. I was one of the people of complained, not for the shocking scenes but the contradictory message of these kinds of shows, River Cottage Veg being another example. I also politely suggested that a documentary or even series about the real truths of animal-based farming be made - let's hope they listen!
ReplyDeleteTrue Anonymous, we get a very confused and sanitised view of animal farming in documentaries like these, as with the BBC's Kill it, Cook it, Eat it. The only farms granting access are those who will be on best behaviour and never does the question of whether it's right to use other animals at all, come into play.
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