Analyzing The Truth: Animal Castration

Uncovering the Truth Although there are remarks that disclaim how animal caretakers treat their livestock, most of the time these claims are inaccurate. Within this paper, you will acquire information on how animal caretakers truly treat their livestock and how these remarks are most of the time, inaccurate.
Castration is the process of removal of the testicles. PETA says the male calves have their testicles ripped from their scrotums, usually without pain relievers. PETA also claims that castration can cause infections and pain. Castration will stop the production of male hormones and semen, which in return is better for the animal. It will prevent unwanted mating and reproduction. If you castrate it will keep the desired traits that
you want, which will then give you a better breeding program. Consumers also want meat products of the highest quality, which castration can give you. If a male stays intact, meaning he still has his testicles, he can be aggressive and can cause injuries. Castration will make it safer, not only for employees but for other animals as well. There are many ways to castrate an animal; you can use elastic bands, which will cut off the blood supply to testicles and then the lack of blood kills the testicles. Another way to castrate is the burdizzo method, which crushes the blood vessels and interrupts the blood supply to the testicle which then kills it. There is also surgical castration a veterinarian can perform and the testicles are removed completely by making an incision over the testicle. Another argument PETA gives is about dehorning cattle.
It can reduce the risk of hurting other animals as well as the owner and other employees. Dehorning will also decrease aggressiveness and make the animals easier to handle. It will require less space with no horns. PETA has said that cattle are only a few weeks old when they get dehorned. The reality is cattle are usually eight weeks old when they get dehorned. PETA also says that farms use searing hot irons, chemicals, blades and handsaws. They say that the wounds take months to heal. Most farms use a paste that they put on the animals head. The horns aren’t even up yet, and the paste prevents them from coming up making the process easy and painless. Some farms use a scoop to get rid of the horns which has a healing process of three weeks maximum. The bigger the animal is the longer it will take to
heal.
PETA articles mention cattle are fed a highly unnatural diet to fatten them up which causes chronic chest and digestive pain. That leads to impaired breathing because there is compression on the lungs. This diet can also cause liver abscesses. Calves are given nothing but a liquid diet which is low in iron and has no nutrients. They suffer from diarrhea and pneumonia because of it. Farmers hire a nutritionist who will figure out what to feed the animals. They figure out what percent of concentrate of hay, vitamins, minerals, grains and protein sources they should be eating. Cattle don’t get chest and digestive pain from eating. They don’t get impaired breathing or liver abscesses. Calves are given milk twice a day for three weeks. They then get it once a day for one week. They have water and grain all day long. PETA stated “Instead of taking sick cattle to see a veterinarian many feed lot owners simply give the animals even higher doses of human-grade antibiotics in an attempt to keep them alive long enough to make it to the slaughter house”. “Many cows receive inadequate veterinary care making them die from infection and injury”. That cows are given antibiotics to help them grow faster and keep them alive”. Farms have to have regular checkups, usually done once every two weeks. The vet that comes out to the farm gives preventative vaccinations and will treat sick animals. Farmers don’t just load up on the antibiotics either. In fact they can’t if they want to make any money off their animal. A cow that is being treated with antibiotics has her milk go in a different cooler until the antibiotics are all out of her system. If a farmer is caught milking a sick cow with the good cows that whole tank of milk is junk. The milk gets thrown away immediately and the farmer must pay for the full tank of milk. You also can’t slaughter animals that are on antibiotics. In fact if you look at a prescription bottle, it will tell you that you can’t slaughter an animal until a certain amount of days have gone by. PETA indicates cows are crammed together in holding pens that are filled with feces.
The feedlot air is loaded with ammonia, methane and other chemicals that cows are forced to inhale. Calves are kept completely immobilized in tiny crates in the dark. Well, calves are kept separate from the other calves but only until they are four- five weeks old. They then get put into a pen of about four to six calves until they are moved to an even bigger pen outdoors. The only reason they are separated in the beginning is to stop the spread of sickness and diseases. Only one will get sick if there separate, but if they were together then there’s a chance of them all getting sick. They also have plenty of room to move around and are only kept in the dark at night for about eight hours. Farmers don’t cram their cows together either. The more animals in a pen the easier it would be for an animal to get sick or hurt. The pens aren’t filled with feces, because it is bad for their hoofs. Lastly, the barns are well ventilated; there are no harmful gases the animals have to inhale. Most barns have a ventilation system that maintains temperature controls depending on how hot or cold it is. If cattle were forced to inhale methane, then so would people when they walked into the barn, methane has the power to kill people, even blow up a building if there is enough built
up. When a cow stops producing milk or a steer weighs a certain amount they have to get processed, before they can get processed they have to be transported. PETA says cattle are transported for hundreds of miles with no food or water. One of PETA’s articles said “Cows sometimes freeze to the sides of the truck and workers pry them off with crowbars”. And that they “Tie ropes or chains around their legs so they can be dragged off of the truck”. Apparently many cattle arrive crippled, dead or too sick and injured to walk off of the truck. For those that can leave the truck, they don’t want to because they are scared. The ones that won’t leave are shocked with electric prods and dragged off with chains. Well to start out with, cattle that are unable to walk off of the truck by themselves cannot be processed in USDA inspected slaughter plants. You cannot get an animal to stand up by abusing it either. Abusing an animal would be beating, poking with sticks, two shocks with an electric prod and lifting with a fork lift. The cattle trailer must have good ramps and have a non-slip flooring. Also, the vehicles must be washed a minimum of once a week. Drivers of the truck and trailer have one week to fix a broken gate, ramps and latches. The driver also has to stop at every weigh station to make sure no animals have fallen down. If there is a freezing rain, snow, or rain the driver has to make sure the weather is not blowing into the sides of the trailer, and if it is they must stop at the next rest stop or weigh station and wait until it is over. Although there are remarks that animal caretakers treat their livestock poorly, most of the time these claims are inaccurate. Caretakers want the best for their livestock and they strive to create the safest environment for their livelihood. They create a comfortable environment for their livestock and they contend to improve the standards of their environment every day.

Works Cited
Agriculture Proud. Ryan Goodman, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. .
The Beef Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. .
Dairy Farmer Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. .
Grandin, Temple. "Cattle Transport Guidelines for Meat Pakcers, Feedlots and Ranches." Transportation Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. .
PETA. PETA, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. .