The Kentucky Livestock Commission recently issued a ban on the practice of confining calves in crates so small they are unable to turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly their entire lives. The new regulation, which takes effect in 2018, will make Kentucky the eighth state to ban cruel veal crates, following Arizona, Colorado, California, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Veal crates have also been banned in the entire European Union.
Numerous undercover investigations, like MFA’s investigation at Buckeye Veal in Ohio, have exposed the unrelenting misery that calves in veal crates are forced to endure. Chained by the neck inside a tiny box, these intelligent and social animals are unable to walk, run, play, breathe fresh air, see sunlight, clean themselves or bond with their mothers. They are deprived of everything that makes life even remotely worth living.
See for yourself how calves raised for veal are treated:
While this marks a modest but meaningful step forward for calves raised for veal in Kentucky, the Livestock Commission has not yet extended this same consideration to pigs or chickens who are typically crammed into tiny gestation crates or battery cages respectively. The new regulations in Kentucky also stop short of prohibiting tail docking – the inherently cruel practice of cutting through the sensitive skin, nerves and tailbone of cows without any painkillers.
The veal crate ban is progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The best way for individuals to help end the needless suffering of farmed animals is simply not to eat them. Adopting a healthy and humane vegan lifestyle is the single most powerful choice one can make to withdraw one’s support from a system that treats animals like commodities. Visit ChooseVeg.com to learn more.