Do Cattle Have It Any Better? "I refuse to eat animals because I cannot nourish myself by the sufferings and by the death of other creatures." —Edgar Kupfer What about peaceful, gentle cows? Are they loved and respected? Admittedly, I have always liked cattle and enjoyed any opportunity to work or be with them. I once had the privilege of getting to know one particularly smart cow. She knew how to communicate exactly what she wanted and when. There was no mistaking she knew what she wanted and how to get that across to her perhaps less than tuned-in caretaker.   However, in today's factory farms, these intelligent, gentle creatures are unable to move more than a few steps back and forth. They spend their dreary and pain-filled lives in stanchions. From the time they are born until the day they die, they are tied or in some way have their movements restrained. Seldom, if ever, do they get outside for fresh air, sunshine and exercise. God created cows to roam the fields, and for the calves to run, jump and play unrestrained at their sides. But instead, little calves are taken from their mothers at birth and tied in tiny hutches. Here they are unable to do the fancy jumps and happy frolicking maneuvers of free calves. Virtually all dairy bull calves are sold for veal. In order to acquire the delicate color, the calves are chained in crates only 22 inches wide by 58 inches long. This is so that they cannot move and develop their muscles. They are given no water, vital minerals or solid foods, and are thus forced to drink a liquid feed laced with drugs intentionally designed to make them anemic. Kept in total darkness except for at feeding times, many of them become blind. They are given absolutely no bedding, so serious leg injuries occur. Many die before they make it to the table, and in all honesty, they are better off than those who continue to live, if it can be called life, in this endless hell. 1, 2   The bond between a mother cow and her baby is strong and long lasting. At one time, when I was caring for some cattle, one of the cows was attempting to give birth but was making no progress. I called the vet, and when the calf was finally delivered, it was dead (if it had been born alive, however, it would have been unable to survive, having a severe case of scoliosis). The mother was inconsolable for days, coming back and looking for her baby, and calling such mournful calls. Perhaps, had we allowed her to see, smell and touch her calf, she could have had the finality of knowing that it was dead rather than thinking it was there, alive, but that she was unable to get to it. If I could, I would do it all differently now. The pain in her cries and the anxious look in her eyes I remember to this day. Why did it have to end this way? How many other calves and mothers are torn from each other, neither one allowed the right of knowing, seeing, licking or nuzzling the other, all in the name of supplying the appetites of a people who have never been weaned? All rights reserved Copyright © 2006 By J. Lee