Jain Study Center NC Raleigh 1999 08 Twenty Years

SR No.: 528542
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Study Center NC Raleigh
Publisher: USA Jain Study Center NC Raleigh
Publication Year: 1999
Total Pages: 122
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Souvenir Jain Center NC Raleigh, & USA
File Size: 15 MB

Page 91

My Visit to A Dairy Farm
by Pravin K. Shah (Version 4.1)
Dairy Visit
I visited a dairy farm located on Route 2 north of Burlington, Vermont (USA) in May of 1995. The dairy owns about 150 cows. All its milk production is used to make ice cream.
Here is the summary of what I saw and learnt:
It was milking time (5:00 PM) and the machine was milking the cow at 3.5 minutes per cow, without regard to how hard it was on the cow. It was extremely difficult to watch the cows' sufferings during the milking. The machine has no feeling. To extract the last drop of milk, sometimes traces of blood gets mixed with the milk.
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Every morning hormones or drugs are injected into the cows to increase their milk yield.
Since cows produce the most milk after pregnancy, they are kept pregnant for their entire fertile life through artificial insemination.
The pregnant cow delivers a baby after 9 months same as human does. 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 I 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 most cruel meat industry in the world. It produces very tender meat for delicacy meal. The baby calves are raised in the 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 after six months or so. There is enough literature available about the cruelty in the veal industry.
Within two months of delivery, the cows are made pregnant 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 then live in their own waste.
The life expectancy of cows is about 15 years. However, after about 5 to 6 years, their milk production capacity drops significantly so these cows are sent to the slaughterhouse for cheap meat which is used in fast food restaurants, hot dog filler, dog & cat food and a
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Jain Education Interational