White veal: Ghandi said we can judge a society by how it treats its animals, and truly the white veal industry ranks as the most morally repugnant production. Male calves born to dairy cows can’t produce milk, and are not the breed favoured for beef. They are considered largely worthless to the dairy industry, and are killed or sold for veal. Male baby calves are taken away from their mothers, when they are only hours or days old, and reared in narrow wooden crates so small, that they are unable to turn around, never mind walk, and are deprived of light and human contact. Some are chained by their neck and unable to move.
The severe restriction prevents calves from developing muscle, and results in the tenderness of which veal meat is prized. No straw bedding is supplied since the calves might eat it, and darken their flesh. They are forced to lie in their own excrement. Calves are immobilised virtually their entire lives, enduring extreme deprivation. They are fed a totally liquid iron deficient diet to produce white veal, to meet the demand for this expensive delicacy/luxury food. At four to five months, they are taken to slaughter and are often too sick and crippled to walk. 20% die before this stage, which must be a relief. This was banned in UK in 1990.
CIWF kept the issue before the public and succeeded in bringing it to an end. It was then banned across the EU in 2007. However, millions of these unwanted calves are still sold and exported to low welfare intensive veal farms (tiny dark stalls/sheds with slatted floors) which are widespread in Europe, the biggest producers being France, Netherlands and Italy. Sadly, much of Europe’s veal is still white. Veal crates are still legal in many countries.
Pate de foie gras: this well known French delicacy (anything but delicate) is called Strasbourg pie. France is the major world producer (around 75%). Pronounced ‘fwah grah’, it is sold in restaurants, hotels, luxury shops and delicatessens, and may be labelled as duck or goose pate. It is one of the cruellest foods ever, made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of force-fed ducks and geese. 97% comes from ducks and the remaining 3% from geese. After hatching inside a foie gras factory, the ducklings are sexed.
Only males are used, since female ducks have generally smaller livers, so in France, up to 40 million female ducklings are killed yearly, sometimes using an industrial macerator. They are used for cat food, fertilisers and the pharmaceutical industry. Around 80% of birds are kept in cramped tiny cages, often in filthy conditions. At around 12 weeks old, metal pipes containing salted cooked maize are inserted down their throats 2-3 times a day, until their livers bloat sometimes up to 10 times their normal size. This forces their abdomens to expand, making movement difficult and painful. They often peck their own feathers or start to eat other birds because of stress. Regular insertion of the feeding tube, damages their oesophagus, making each force-feeding more painful than the last.
Many experience severely lacerated necks and ruptured internal organs, because of the pressure and rough handling. Their livers stop to function normally. Toxins build up in their system causing fungal and bacterial infections, and subsequently brain disease. Around a million die during the process. Foie gras production is prohibited in 17 countries including the UK, but despite this, the UK is one of the biggest consumers of it. Major producers are France, Bulgaria, Spain and Canada. Write to the retailer or speak to restaurant owners.
Lobsters: scientists have proven that crustaceans (lobsters, crabs and shrimp) and cephalopods (including squid and octopus) do feel pain. Research has shown, that when shore crabs were given small electric shocks while hiding in dark shelters, they tried to escape being zapped again, by opting to migrate to another hide out. Lobsters carry their young for 9-12 months (attaches eggs to her tail) and can potentially live to be 100 years old. Thousands are killed yearly, by slitting them from head to tail, or they are boiled alive in a pot (minimises the chances of food poisoning because they have a harmful bacteria naturally present on their flesh) and have been seen to scrape the sides in a desperate attempt to escape.
One of the country’s leading experts, a marine biologist, believes lobsters feel pain. In Italy you face a fine, for boiling lobsters alive. The RSPCA is also opposed to boiling on moral grounds, and they along with some others, think you should freeze a lobster 2 hours before you cook it as this renders it insensible. However, the argument against that idea, is it would destroy the delicate texture. Others say to stab it through the brain with a sharp knife but a lobster’s brain operates from several ganglia and disabling only the frontal ganglion doesn’t usually result in death or unconsciousness.
Often while in a tank waiting to be bought, lobsters aren’t fed, to stop the tank filling up with ammonia from excrement, as too much can kill them. The cook wants them fresh. So they can starve to death or try to eat each other. Crabs and prawns are often boiled alive or have their legs ripped off to be sold at markets. Female shrimps on commercial farms have one of their eyestalks sliced off with a razor, to ensure they produce more eggs and spawn earlier.
Christians Caring For Gods Creatures 