On the video Barker says that the Buckeye video “uncovers the plight
of the youngest victims of the veal and dairy industries—baby male
calves doomed to a short life chained inside a tiny crate.”
"Due to its inherent cruelty, the American Veterinary Medical
Association opposes chaining calves in restrictive crates," MFA states
on its website, "and five U.S. states, as well as all 27 countries in
the European Union, have outlawed their use.
Buying dairy supports the veal industry and abuse, says Barker
“Few consumers realize that veal is a direct by-product of the dairy industry,” he explains. “Because dairy cows must be impregnated to produce milk, producers rip the newborn calves from their mother’s sides shortly after birth, so that humans can have the milk instead.”
The covert footage shot at Buckeye reveals “baby calves chained inside two-feet wide wooden stalls--so narrow they cannot turn around, walk, run, play, socialize with other animals, or engage in other basic natural behaviors,” as described on the MFA website. “In such tight confinement, the animals are unable to lie down comfortably, breathe fresh air, see sunlight, clean themselves or bond with their mothers. Sadly, the majority of calves raised for veal in the United States are subjected to this harsh and intensive confinement for their entire 18- to 20-week lives.”
Costco condemns the treatment of calves and demands higher humane standards
"We are extremely disappointed, not only with the performance of our supplier in this instance, but with our own performance as well," Costco CEO Jim Sinegal said in a media release. "We hold ourselves to a high standard, and in this case, we plainly did not perform to that standard."
Melissa Allison of The Seattle Times reported that Costco “will continue taking delivery of veal from its sole supplier, Atlantic Veal and Lamb of New York, which buys meat from some 120 farms including Buckeye Veal Farm near Wooster, Ohio, where the video was taken.”
Atlantic had told Costco that although some of their producers treat the calves as the video depicts, such handling is considered legal and acceptable practice, wrote Allison.
"We're telling them flat-out that it's not acceptable to us, and we will not accept any veal from those farms, period," Allison quoted Jeff Lyons, Costco's senior vice president of fresh foods. "They're going to have to go by our guidelines and policy, regardless of whether that's considered normal practice. It's not for us, and that might sound arrogant, but we just don't think that's the way to treat an animal."
Photo above courtesy Animals Voice.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is the author of 17 novels for
publishers including Avon, E.P. Dutton, and Simon & Schuster, and
hundreds of articles for publications such as National Geographic
Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle, and Veggie Life. She wrote a
teleplay for CBS and short fiction for The Bark magazine. With coauthor
Shelley Frost, she wrote Your
Adopted Dog
(The Lyons Press). Holding a B.A. in Environmental Science Studies and
a lifelong interest in animal issues, she spends a lot of her time
battling a severe addiction to dogs.
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