Every year, 35 million cattle are raised for beef, 9 million are raised for milk, and 1 million calves are bred for veal. Beef cows are castrated, de-horned, and branded, all of which are excruciatingly painful procedures. Many cows also have their tails docked, or removed, and usually without any anesthesia, although California has outlawed this practice. During slaughtering, it is estimated that about 5% of cows are dismembered and/or skinned alive because they weren't sufficiently electrically stunned into an anesthetized state. This is often performed before their throats are slashed to bleed out. Cows are also shot in the head to be killed before their dismemberment.
Dairy cows are some of the most poorly treated animals in the farming industry (though chickens probably take the top rank). Dairy cows go through annual periods of insemination because like humans, they have to go through pregnancy to produce milk. Their gestational period is 9 months and they produce one calf at a time, and their cycle of insemination starts as young as 15 months old. Their calves are taken away from them immediately after birth, and this is traumatizing for both the mother and baby. They are usually used for their milk between four to five years, and after that, they're slaughtered. If they were given the chance to live in a grassy field without any mistreatment, they could live up to 25 years. But sadly, most dairy cows lives are cut very short. By the time they have outgrown their use and are slaughtered, they are exhausted, aching, and suffering from many problems. Their udders end up being extremely heavy and painful from the constant lactation and milking and they often end up with ulcers on their legs from the size of their udders.
This cow's udders are so swollen she can't stand normally and defecates on her udders because they protrude so far out. Any woman who has had severely engorged breasts while nursing their baby can somewhat relate to the agony this cow was in when this picture was taken.
If dairy cows give birth to female calves, those offspring are usually used for milking, also, and within 15 months of birth begin the rigorous lives their mothers led. But male dairy calves have no real purpose to dairy farmers, so they're generally sold to veal farmers or shot shortly after birth. Calves raised for veal are tethered by the neck in small stalls for their entire 16-18 week lives before they're slaughtered. This is done to prevent their muscles from developing so their flesh is tender for consumption. They never get a chance to experience free ranging in a field and eating fresh grass - instead, they're fed unnatural diets to help fatten them up for slaughter. Before slaughtering, when they're being transported, they're denied food and water. Like all other cows in the farming industry, when they are slaughtered they are hung upside down and their throats are slashed so they bleed out quickly.
This video shows how many cows are treated in the meat and dairy industry. It's very graphic and upsetting to watch.
It's disgusting to think that these poor, innocent animals are treated so inhumanely just so that people can have their milk. It's completely unnatural to drink cow's milk if you really think about it. Humans are the only mammal to consume milk after infancy, and the fact that we consume the milk of another species is just creepy. And as far as meat goes, we don't NEED beef. We don't HAVE TO HAVE steaks. Our bodies will survive without hamburgers. We can get protein a million other ways. There was a time when eating beef might have been necessary because the human race simply wasn't advanced enough to find other sources of protein and sustenance, but in this day and age we have the technology and intelligence to do just that.
I know it seems like there's nothing you can do to change how animals are treated and you're just one person in millions upon millions. For ways to help out, visit The Humane Society - you can donate money to their cause or sign up to help advocate animal rights.
