SOURCE ET SUITE SUR FREEFROMHARM COMME L' HOMME EST IMAGINATIF QUAND IL S' AGIT DE TORTURER LES BETES!!!! JE N' AI PAS ENCORE VU CES ANNEAUX DANS LE CALVAOS MAIS UN AMI M' AVAIT ENVOYE DES PHOTOS D' UN ELEVAGE PRES DE CHEZ LUI DANS LA MANCHE AVEC DES VEAUX DEVANT SUBIR CET OBJET ARCHAIQUE (OUI, PAS SI ARCHAIQUE EN FAIT VU QUE DANS LE PASSE LES FERMIERS N' UTILISAIENT PAS ET QUE LA NAISSANCE D' UN VEAU ETAIT UN REJOUISSEMENT INCOMPARABLE!!) MAINTENANT.. DIRE QUE JE SUIS 100% CONTRE NON, CAR AU MOINE SL VEAU A JUSQU'A PRESENT TAITE LE LAIT DE SA MERE AU PIE, ET QU' IL PROFITERA DE SA PRESENCE ET DE SES CONSEILS POUR GRANDIR ET APPRENDRE A VIVRE (OUAI... AVANT D' APPRENDRE A MOURIR BIEN SUR!!) Voltaire once wrote, “If we believe absurdities, we will commit atrocities,” and nowhere is this principle seen more clearly than in the billion dollar lies and bizarre cruelties of the dairy industry. It is a testament to the power of dairy advertising that otherwise intelligent adults can be made to believe that it is not only natural, but necessary to drink the breast milk of another species. In trying to expose this absurdity, one encounters even more absurd defenses and practices. This video is a perfect example, demonstrating the heartless cruelties visited on animals in the dairy industry, and the elaborate mental gymnastics that dairy producers perform in order to convince themselves and others that what they are doing is somehow okay. Not just okay, even, but wholesome and good, part of an honorable tradition. Not so much. In this video, the farmer has just affixed a spiked plastic plate to the face of a male dairy calf in order to prevent the calf from drinking his mother’s milk. The spiked weaning nose plate is a variation of the spiked weaning nose ring, both originally invented to wean beef calves from their mothers. On most dairy farms, including small farms, calves do not get to stay with their mothers long enough to be weaned from them; according to the USDA, 97% of dairy calves are permanently removed from their mothers within 24 hours of birth; this separation is devastating for both mother and calf. (1) Since males cannot produce milk, male calves are useless to the dairy industry and are sold to be slaughtered for veal or beef. Veal calves spend their brief lives confined in individual crates or stalls where many are not even permitted to turn around; exercise would develop their muscles, and veal is prized for its anemic tenderness. Female calves are isolated in lonely hutches for the first 2 to 3 months, then raised in group pens, eventually joining the dairy herd as milking cows. Although they long for their mothers, most dairy calves never get to enjoy the warmth, safety and nurture of living with them. I do not know why the dairy farmer in the video had kept this particular calf, as the dairy farm’s facebook page says they do not keep the male calves (the page also states that female calves are removed from their mothers after two weeks, and raised apart.) Perhaps the males are also permitted to nurse for a couple of weeks before being sold for slaughter. In any case, this farm is a shining example of a small, so-called “humane” dairy farm; photos show the cows grazing beautiful rolling pastures, sleeping in the sunlight, and being petted and admired, with frequent loving descriptions accompanying the photos: “We are rather smitten with these girls.” They all have names. - See more at: http://freefromharm.org/videos/farm-animal-investigations/the-spiked-nose-ring-a-symbol-for-all-dairy-cruelty/#sthash.QPsTVlRO.dpuf