Dairy cow abuse stirs reaction
Re: SPCA recommends criminal charges against dairy farm workers, June 10
How is it possible the owners of the dairy factory could be totally unaware their employees were whipping, punching, and kicking defenceless cows? Why should it take an undercover video to expose this cruelty?
The owners’ plan to install surveillance cameras would only serve a purpose, in the context of this self- regulated industry, if the video fed into a databank that an ( as yet nonexistent) independent regulatory authority could monitor. Only then could the public be assured that any given farmer is humanely treating the creatures, who must rely on them for every aspect of their care.
This particular factory will need more than a few cameras to monitor the care and handling of their 3,500 cows. KATHY MCLENNAN Vancouver
As someone who has lived and worked around dairy cattle my whole life, I felt the same sense of shock and disgust expressed by many others at the contents of the recently released video.
I have always enjoyed caring for and working with dairy cattle, and seeing them healthy, thriving, content and comfortable. It has always been one of my main sources of satisfaction and has made the 4 a. m. milking, seven days a week, something I look forward to and enjoy.
Three years ago I assumed the privilege of being a dairy farm owner and regard the ownership and care of these wonderful animals as just that, a privilege, not a right, not something to be taken for granted. An old dairy adage goes, “If you look after your cows they’ll look after you,” and that’s what I and the vast majority of dairy farmers and their employees will continue to do. PAUL SCHMIDT Mission
The laws in most European countries are far more stringent as regards to the treatment of animals and North America trails far behind. We should damn well be ashamed of ourselves. MIKE HARVEY Langley
Many people believe their milk, cheese and yogurt come from a blissful utopia. The Chilliwack Cattle investigation reveals only a relatively small part of the overall fate of dairy cows. Some 70 per cent of Canadian dairy cows never go out on a green pasture. They live their entire lives on concrete paved factory farm conditions.
Cows must give birth every year in order to produce milk, so farms artificially impregnate them and then take the calves away as soon as they are born so humans can drink the milk. These mother cows exist in an almost constant state of pregnancy. They will never know their babies. If the calf is a male it is usually tethered for its short life to become veal.
Under normal conditions, a calf consumes six to eight litres of milk a day from its mother. Now dairy cows produce a staggering 30 litres a day.
The average cow should have a lifespan of some 20 to 25 years. After four or five years, once dairy cows no longer produce peak quantities of milk, they are slaughtered, mostly for hamburger meat.
Statistics show that during the past few years dairy consumption is down dramatically, partly due to health concerns and also because many viable non- dairy beverages and cheese are available at most stores. This is a major trend in its infancy. The public is becoming aware of how inherently cruel the dairy industry is. KARL LOSKEN North Vancouver
So we’re all supposed to “ditch dairy” now? As horrible and wrong as the actions of those employees were, be assured that there was also much agenda- promoting cinematic manipulation and basic misrepresentation going on as well, playing directly on the naiveté of the public. I’m not a dairy farmer, but I’ve seen first hand how they take great pride in their farms and care deeply for their cows. I encourage everyone to visit a farm if they have the chance and see the bigger picture of dairy farming in B. C., and don’t “ditch dairy” over a tainted, isolated event. BRYAN BRANDSMA Abbotsford