Animal Welfare: Debunking the Myths

In this present day, agriculture faces a lot of backlash and controversy from consumers. This especially goes for beef and dairy cattle. The main problem is that animal rights activists don't completely understand why we do what we do and then they begin to presume that anyone who raises livestock is some terrible monster. Here are some of the top myths that are used by animal rights activists and why they are wrong or misunderstood.

1. It's painful for a dairy cow to be milked.

I can see how this could be misunderstood by anyone not directly involved in agriculture, but this is why it isn't true. Dairy cows are usually milked two or three times a day. For each milking the cows are herded into a group to be milked if they don't already do it themselves. Each cow walks into a stall and the farmer then cleans off each teat and dips them into iodine to make sure they're sterile and nothing gets into the milk. Dairy farms then use a Automatic Milking System that sucks milk out of all four teats at once. Most dairy cows actually like to be milked because the suction from the machine imitates exactly what a calf would do! If cows aren't milked everyday, it actually causes them discomfort and can lead to mastitis, which is a painful infection in the udder or teats.

2. Vaccines are bad for cattle and are in the meat we eat.

I will admit that I find this one to be udderly ridiculous (cheesy pun intended!) and needs to be put to rest. Vaccines have been invented to prevent diseases and sickness from occurring. If cows is sick or has a disease, they may suffer just like we do. Vaccines are given to cattle because farmers care about the well-being of their cattle. Saying vaccines are bad for cattle is the same as saying they are bad for humans. When vaccines and antibiotics are administered to cattle, it is because it is absolutely needed. According to the USDA FSIS, there is a term called withdrawal time which is the amount of time that an unhealthy amount of antibiotic residue stays in an animal's body. If an animal to be slaughtered has had a drug recently, the withdrawal time must be over. It is illegal for an animal to be slaughtered within a drugs withdrawal time and the people involved face serious violations. All meat is tested for antibiotics before it reaches consumers and if antibiotics are found in the meat.

3. Cows are raped.

This one is a very huge misconception. Recently PETA shared a photo on their Facebook page of a ranching couple who announced they were expecting their first child with a cattle chute. It was a very cute picture and idea, but of course there were misconceptions linked with the photo. People not involved in agriculture believe that cows are raped when they are Artificially Inseminated and they refer to a cattle chute as a "rape rack". The thing is that animals don't have the same cognitive thought that we do. Basically if nature tells them to breed they will breed. If a cow goes into heat, or is ovulating, and a bull is nearby he will sense that and they will breed. When cows are artificially inseminated, it feels the exact same way as if they were to be naturally serviced by a bull.

4. Cattle that are corn-fed and in confinement are not healthy.

I can also understand why this would be misunderstood. The fact of the matter is that having cattle on pasture 365 days a year is not realistic for most farms as land is expensive and is becoming less available as more ground is being surrendered for urbanization. Cattle in confinement are not just fed corn or grain, they are also fed a healthy amount of grass, alfalfa, or silage. If cattle were fed just grain, they would become bloated and possibly die. For this reason, cattle in confinement are fed a healthy ration of grain and hay.

I hope everyone learned something new from this post! Thanks for reading!