Animal Suffering Essay Research Paper When you — страница 2

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problems if the calf implanted is larger than the mother can bear (Coats 56-57). Secondly, under cows, we have the veal calf. The main resource for veal calves is the calves of dairy cows (Coats 61). According to David Coats, ?The concept is simple yet very cruel; from birth, calves are kept in solitary confinement in small wooden crates, deprived of mobility? (62). The diet of a veal calf consists of little iron and fiber but contains a high concentration of growth stimulant, starch fats, sugars, etc. This is the only food given; no water is allowed. This diet makes the flesh of the calf very pale which is optimum (Coats 64). Veal calves are killed about four months into their life. If the calves were kept longer, they would die due to their deprived diet and psychological

problems (Coats 62). Lastly, we have the beef cow. The beef industry is about a thirty billion dollar a year industry in the U.S. (Coats 69). ?In 1986, the average American consumed 78 pounds of beef, accounting for 7% of supermarket sales? (Coats 69). Beef cattle, unlike other farm animals are not packed into cages, because they produce nothing until they are taken to slaughter (Coats 71). Beef cattle are ?out on the range? at the start of their lives. At about the last 100 days of life the cattle are taken into feedlots where they are crowded together and have no room to move (Coats 71-72). ?It used to take three years for a calf to become an adult of sellable weight?now, with new finishing techniques, calves are pushed from birth through to slaughter in just ten to eleven

month?(Coats 72). When cattle are put into feedlots, they are separated into same age and sex. This causes problems similar to pigs when put in the same position. They are denied the development of their natural social order (Coats 73). Castration is a common occurrence in beef cattle. One reason is that it is said that uncastrated meat has a different and undesirable taste. Another reason for cattle castration is to make them more passive (Coats 75). ?In surgical castration, the scrotum is cut open and the testes are cut off or just pulled off. Common complications are hemorrhage, infection, tetanus and maggot infestation? (Coats 75). To nonsurgically castrate cattle, a tight rubber band like device is put around the top of the testes. As the blood is restricted, the testes

eventually go numb, decay, and fall off, but before they go numb, the cattle go through a great deal of pain (Coats 75). Another quality control is dehorning. Cattle are dehorned using chemicals which burn out the root to prevent poking out of eyes and harm to handlers when the cattle are close together (Coats 77). Finally, in regards to the farming industry we will deal with chickens. There are two types of farm chickens: broilers and layers. Broilers are those raised for eating (Coats 81-82). Between Europe and America, over 7.3 billion chickens are slaughtered each year (Coats 810. When laying chickens are hatched, they are separated into male and female by professional chicken sexers. The males are thrown out because they are not useful in laying and are unsuitable for eating

(Coats 84). About the same number of male chickens are hatched as female. This means that millions of chicks are pointlessly ?left by the way side? (Coats 84). Both broilers and layers are forced to endure a debeaking process. This is done by placing the upper portion of the beak against a hot metal blade at about 1500?F for approximately two seconds (Coats 85). ?Debeaking is the cutting off of either the entire tip of the beak or the top half of the beak, the upper mandible? (Coats 85). Some believe that the beak is like a nail and can be cut with no pain. The beak contains highly sensitive tissue within it (Coats 85). The industry says that chickens are debeaked to protect the chickens from themselves. In the confined and stressful crates and cages, the chickens have a tendency

to become cannibalistic (Coats 86). When it comes to broiler hens, the object, again, is to produce the most and biggest in the least amount of time for the least amount of money (Coats 87). By the time the chickens are ready for slaughter, they have about a one half square foot of room with which to barely move (Coats 87). The social structure needed in pigs and cows is more important to chickens. The ?pecking order? is an essential part of their life. This is disrupted by constant shifting of chickens and cramped condition (Coats 87). The next topic to discuss is animal experimentation. About 25-35 million animals are involved in research testing and teaching each year in the U.S. (Fox 58). Animals are used to test the safety of products such as drugs, carcinogens, cosmetics,