The life story of a cow.

[Mojotronica]

Link to an article by Michael Pollan about the process of raising and butchering cows:

http://www.nelivestockalliance.org/news/nytimes33102.shtml

Summary:
Walks the reader through the process of factory beef production.

Points out one major concern about the process -- cattle are fed primarily corn which they are ill-equipped to digest. Consequently they get bloated and prone to infection. To control the infection ranchers have incorporated a huge amount of anti-biotics into their diets as well. There is much literature on how over-use of ABs is degrading their quality, as organisms adapt to it.

Furthermore it's kind of weird that we eat beef that has been so medicated -- and strictly speaking unnecessay, since use of hay as feed is traditional and works well with the cows digestion. It's more expensive than corn, however, in part due to gov't subsidies for corn.

Contrasts factory farming w/ small farm methods.

EDIT: re-wrote introduction.

 

[Immortal]

moo

 

[Frozzy]

There was a pig in Britain who escaped from the slaughter house merely minutes before he was due to go to the chop. They found him 60 miles away rummaging through rubbish bins in a urban area.

They didn't convert him into sausages, luckily for him.

 

[h4ppy]

Not to sound rude or anything but who cares what the cow thinks. It is after all a slab of meat. As long as it isn't killed in a cruel way just to be cruel then it is no big deal.

 

[Frozzy]

My father (a butcher) always said that farmyard animals were there to be killed and put on our plate to be killed. He did, to his credit, draw the line at veal.

 

[Immortal]

pfft, veal, steak, lamb, it tastes good. Ill have it when I want.

 

[Japher]

If it wasn't for the fact that the cow is raised to be eatin' all of the slow elk would have gone the way of the dodo birds years ago...

If god didn't intended for us to eat meat, then why did he mak it taste so good?

 

[luiz]

I know that its not very politically correct to say things like these this days, but I really dont care if the cow is unhappy with its food. As long as they taste good, its fine by me.

 

[Ohwell]

Originally posted by luiz
I know that its not very politically correct to say things like these this days, but I really dont care if the cow is unhappy with its food. As long as they taste good, its fine by me.

Oh no, is Political Correctness moving on into the animal kingdom too? Don't worry Boss, you can say whatever you want.

Personally, I'd like to see animals treated better, but when it comes down to it, I guess I don't care that much.

 

[shinku]

Hmmmm ... steak ... *drools*

I happen to live with a slaughterhouse nearby, and as I write down, I can hear cows and pigs drawing their final scream.

I have some friends that can no more eat meat after having watched how animals are treated over there.

I have no remorses. I don't want to know how my steak lived before it arrived in my stomach.

Meat is just so delicious hmm. Me hungry !

 

[Perfection]

MMMMMMMMM factory produced meat products.

 

[Anti-EUA]

I am a vegetarian because of this. I keep imagining the last seconds of a cow's life. What if I were it? Would I know I was going to die? I don't know, call me nuts, but I won't ever eat meat.

 

[shinku]

Originally posted by Anti-EUA
I am a vegetarian because of this. I keep imagining the last seconds of a cow's life. What if I were it? Would I know I was going to die? I don't know, call me nuts, but I won't ever eat meat.

I can help you on that, if you want, I can even take pictures of the butchers at work. Just PM me if you are interested

 

[Mark Young]

It's a sad life for these poor animals.
Ideally all animals should be able to live their lives the way that they were suppose to, but that aint going to happen any time soon.
The point about antibiotic abuse is an important issue that everyone needs to be aware of, as the effects of prolong exposure to AB's can cause the bacteria in the gut to build up an immunity to them, rendering them useless.
Here in Australia the Agricultural industry needs to be relooked at so that this sort of practice ( the AB's) gets banned.
Here in Australia the AVA (Australian Veterinary Association) and the AMA ( Australian Medical Association) need to look at banning this sort of antibiotic abuse as it is potentially something that can be very devastating.
Already there are strands of bacteria that are resistent to any sort of AB, Once they are gone where do we go then?
I love eating meat, especially fish, but I reckon if I keep reading these articles I just might turn 'vego.

Edit: Let me just clarify that prolong abuse wont lead to resistance, it's the intermittent use of AB's that cause resistence, the reason that doctor's put you on a 10 day course is that it takes that long to kill the bug's but if you dont take the AB's for that time then the bugs can mutate and form a new strand of bacteria that is then resistent to that AB.

 

[Plexus]

They're an-i-mals, not people. They have no other use than to be eaten.

 

[SpikeSpiegelJKD]

We're all too desensitized. We just go to the store and pick up a styrofoam and plastic wrapped hunk of flesh. The average person doesn't think twice about what it really is.

Maybe if you had to kill it yourself, if you had to look that cow in the eyes just for a few seconds before you pulled the trigger, just maybe you would think twice about it. But no... we just skip that whole process and pick it up at the store. In a nice, neat, sanitary package. The short life they lead seems to be pretty brutal. Imagine being born for the sole purpose of being consumed by humans. They're probably too dumb to realize it, but still... they're living, thinking, feeling creatures.

The worst part is, I'd love to have a nice, juicy hamburger in my mouth right now.

 

[SpikeSpiegelJKD]

Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but Plexus, do you think you have a purpose in your life? Do you somehow deserve to live, and a cow does not? It's not like humans have a real 'use', we're basically just a virus with shoes. I think that all living things should be allowed to live a long, productive, happy life... unless it's the bubonic plague bacteria or something. Or Susan Smith and people like her.

Sadly, this world has gotten so populated to the point that we have, essentially, assembled this machine that kills thousands of relatively intelligent creatures every day, and it is accepted as being perfectly okay.

On another note, most Westerners think it's barbaric that Asians would kill and eat dogs and cats as a part of their regular diet. Yet over there, they think we're appalling for murdering masses of cows. Humans... go figure.

 

[Tassadar]

I agrre with SpikespeigelJKD,

We are part of animal kingdom not apart of it and using extensive industrial production of chicken, cow, pig is against nature.

They use growth hormone,anti-biotics,steroid on those animal to boost production.

An exemple, a free living chicken can live about 10 -15 year but a chicken born in an industrious way have a life time of 2 months, they are so much boosted that they died from the growth process. Those chick are ready to eat after only 6 week while if they live in nature they are still baby at this age.

http://www.kfccruelty.com/


Imagine if an extraterrestial life form took control on earth and we are treated as living food for them like we treat our animals, you will be disgusting isnt it ?

So just for the respect of life and the food quality we must stop those extensive industrious cruel process.

 

[thestonesfan]

We kill our own chickens and the occassional pig, and it just makes you want to eat them even more because it's so much freakin' bloody, nasty work. Raw poultry has a smell about it I can't stand.

Anyway, a cow is too supid to realize how good or bad they have it. You think the life of an African Wildebeast is pure, unfettered, meadow-frollicking joy? Whatever. I'd rather take an air-hammer to the noggin after a life of nothing but eating and breeding than be suffocated by lion jaws clamped on my windpipe.

Also, and I always have to point this out, if we didn't eat them, they would have no lives at all.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

I have to agree with SpikeSpiegelJKD about the dogs and China. Pretty stupid to say I love beef, then call WWF or WSPCA (or whatever it is) when you see chinese eating dog.

I would personally eat dog meat if it were on the menu. But then, plenty of people look at me in disgust about the crazy things I do, especially seeing I dont care. Like having cake in your creaming soda.

EDIT: No I dont see Chinese eating dogs, thank you very much