| Unremitting cruelty shames
the veterinary profession, farmers, and so-called animal welfarists
implicated in the workings of an evil industry.
Dr Alan Long, of VEGA Research, noting the publication today
of a report by Dr Toby Knowles and colleagues of the School
of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, on “changes
in the blood biochemical and haematological profile of neonatal
calves with age”, comments:
“Research by Dr Toby Knowles et al, tracking the development
of the immune system of the dairy-calf, found that it has
not completed within two and a half months of birth.
“This confirms the toll taken by the industry, in which
BSE erupted and continued, on these frail animals”.
Quoting authoritative sources on the husbandry and welfare
of farm animals, Dr Long states:
“ ‘The young calf is particularly vulnerable to
disease. About 170,000 of calves born alive each year die
in their first month of life. Scouring (diarrhea) is the main
factor contributing to their death. Respiratory infections
are particularly common in calves between eight and twenty
weeks of age’
“The calf is taken from its mother within 48 hours of
birth and abruptly weaned on to milk substitute, an inadequate
replacement often fed from a bucket at a wrong temperature
and necessitating a sudden change form maternal suckling to
unnatural lapping. ‘Leaving a calf with its mother until
weaning and separation occur naturally may be ideal, but is
not practicable within the present modern dairy industry’2.
This ‘ideal’ time is 6 months or more.
“Most beef-calves from the dairy-herd ‘are moved
off their farm of origin at about one week of age into specialist
rearing units’. This may entail trips through dealerships,
markets, and transport, ‘sometimes for the full length
of the country. Such animals are deprived of food, water,
and physical comfort, and are confused, exhausted, and exposed
to a wide range of infectious organisms, of which the most
important are the Salmonella bacteria. By the time they reach
their rearing unit they are likely to be infected, dehydrated,
and stressed, and need special care if they are to survive’.
Within their first couple of months they could also be subjected
to the stresses of castration, disbudding (dehorning) and
vaccinations, performed by non-veterinarian workers in conditions
far removed from surgery-practice.
“Objection arises to ‘dispensing drugs wholesale
to farmers for the treatment of all bought-in calves because
of the fear that this will lead to an increasing incidence
of drug-resistant strains of these organisms’. This ‘concern’
has intensified with the spread of Salmonella typhimurium
types carrying multiple resistance to antibiotics essential
in treatment of outbreaks of serious diseases in the human
population. Movements of baby calves through markets, especially
because they are a low-value by-product of the dairy industry,
subject them to a callous rupture of the maternal bond and
to ruthless stresses on a newborn animal.”
Dr Knowles explains the relevance of the findings he is about
to report as follows:
“Vets use a variety of blood biochemical and haematological
measurements as an aid to diagnosing disease in animals. They
do this by comparing the values found in a sick animal with
values from a healthy population of animals. However, in newborn
animals, levels are naturally different from those in adults.
We tracked the changes in a selection of variables in calves
from birth to 83 days of age. This work will act as a guide
to veterinarians, showing how the values found in healthy
newborn animals differ from those found in adults and will
enable the identification of unusual values in sick calves.
“Present legislation within the UK allows lone calves
to be sold through markets or dealers at seven days of age.
Previous work has shown that, following marketing, mortality
amongst calves can be high. However, it appears that mortality
decreases the older the calves are when sent for sale. Our
work shows that many of the blood variables are changing rapidly
over the first two months of life suggesting that perhaps
mortality amongst calves sent for sale could be reduced if
the minimum age at which they could be marketed were increased
to one or, preferably, two months.”
Dr Long comments: “In beef suckler-herds calves run
with their dams for 6 months or more. The cows don’t
have to suckle human milksops. BSE isn’t a problem in
closed suckler-herds. Cow and calf suffer much less than in
the dairy/beef/veal system. Organizations such as the Soil
Association and RSPCA seeking to approve ‘farm-assured’
methods of husbandry must overhaul their standards in the
light of the scientific findings from Dr Knowles’ group.
Non-meaters turning into cheesytarians must ponder their complicity
in practices they abhor.
“Cereals and soyabeans can yield ‘dairy produce’
with estimable properties and available in supermarkets without
stuffing such crops and concentrates into Britain’s limping
population of mucky, miserable, mastitic cows and pitching
baby-calves into a hell of modern farming”, states Dr
Long.
1. Management and Welfare of
Farm Animals, 4th Edition 1999, Universities Federation for
Animal Welfare.
2. Calf Husbandry, Health and Welfare, by Professor John Webster,
Collins, 1984.
<<
PAGE TOP >>
|
