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1.- MY VISIT TO A DAIRY FARM
Every morning hormones or drugs are injected into the cows. They are also fed a diet geared toward high production of milk. The dairy cow produces about 7 times the amount of milk a cow on the traditional family farm produces. The gestation period of cow is 9 months same as human beings. If a male calf, of no use to the dairy industry, is born, he is shipped to the veal industry within two or three days of birth. The evening | was there; the farm was shipping three baby calves in a truck to a veal factory. The mother cows were crying when their babies were separated from them. I cannot forget the scene and can still hear the cries of the mother cows.
The veal industry is the cruelest meat industry in the world. It produces very tender meat that is considered a delicacy. The baby calves are raised in darkness in a very confining crate, which allows practically no movements. They are fed an iron-deficient diet. This way the meat gets very tender and properly textured. They slaughter the baby calves at about six months. There is much literature available on internet about cruelty in the veal industry. Within two months of delivery, the cows are impregnated again. I did not have the stamina to watch the process of artificial insemination that the farm was showing off.
About four to five times a year, this farm would take the cows outside for a walk. Otherwise, the cows are tied in one place and they have no choice but to defecate where they are confined. It badly stunk when I was there; the farm would wash the confinement areas once or twice a day, and the remaining times the cows would live in their own waste.
THE BOOK OF COMPASSION
