Jolley: Five Minutes With Chip Lines Burgess, President, American Veal Association Talking About Bushway Packing

Well, Mary, you could say the same thing about a 3 month old baby, or an 80 year old person with Alzheimers. Now, don't get all crazy on me. I am not comparing people to animals, but just because they can't appreciate their future, doesn't mean they don't deserve one. Curious, do you have a dog or cat? Does that animal appreciate its future? Vegans aren't telling you that you can't eat meat.. They are trying to make you understand that there is real suffering involved when you make that decision.

Hmmm.. just wondering if HSUS can get people into the farms/slaughterhouses incognito, could they possibly get people in to stage these videos as well? I think the answer is of course they can! Aside from that, I am sick to death of these holier-than-thou vegans daring to tell us that eating meat and dairy products is immoral. We don't tell them they have to eat meat and can't eat vegetables, why on earth do they think they have a right to tell us what to eat? Farm animals don't have any concept of the future, 3 day old calves don't realize they are being robbed of a long life. They must be kept humanely, they must be slaughtered as humanely as possible, but the bottom line is that they will die at some point. Humans project emotions and feelings on the animals that they just don't have. A cow that is grazing is as happy as it will get. It does not think about or fear ending up on someone's plate. It lives in the moment. They are NOT DISNEY CHARACTERS!

In reponse: "Pregnant women and children should not eat a strict vegan diet for two reasons one it is hard to know what your protein intact should be and second we do not know all the nutrients we need that we get from meat to be able to make proper substitutions." REALLY? As a vegan mother of 3 healthy vegan children I think you are full of it. My OB was totally supportive, never once suggested I eat something non-vegan. My pregnancy and childbirth were healthy and normal. "We do know that babies born in the war to mothers who had no meat or milk products suffered from severe health problems and mental deterioration." Again.. REALLY?? My children have not had one oz. of meat or milk ever and have suffered none of the problems you suggest. Instead, they are bright, healthy, normal children. Might I suggest, Doctor, that you are on the payroll of the meat and dairy industries. Let me remind you all the budgets for the meat and dairy are considerably larger than that of the Humane Society, as well as your Lobbying budget. Most vegans are vegan because the thought of the cruelty animals suffer is more than they can bear. Think compassion.

Whether the livestock industry or the pet industry is involved in incidents like this, the common denominator always seems to come back to two issues that obviously (at least to me) that need to be looked into. Inspectors and enforcement of animal welfare laws. When citations are issued for small infractions and are not followed up on to see that they are corrected, it opens the door to allowing the serious issue of abuse to occur. When serious abuses are allowed to occur with no punishment, it opens the doors to extremist groups to do what happened here. If jobs aren't being done as they should be, whether due to intimidation by threat, someone being paid for silence, someone who is only present to collect a paycheck, or whatever reason, that person should not be in that job. If they are being threatened, it should be reported along with the infractions and by whom and any type of wrongdoing should be dealt with immediately and accordingly. This is business, not kindergarten, and it should be run as such. If someone is so upset with life, they see the need to abuse animals entrusted to their care...even in a slaughter facility...they need mental help very badly. If inspectors or law/rule enforcement personnel are not doing their jobs, they don't deserve to have those jobs. If they are accepting bribes to look the other way, they should be fined the amount estimated they were paid, as well as losing their jobs.
Rules, regulations, and laws do no good if they aren't enforced. There are a lot of good welfare laws at state and federal levels and we would not be dealing with the abuses we do if those paid to police those laws were doing what they are paid to do.
Dr. Rosset made some very good points from the health and research area that we should all pay heed to.
I also read comments pertaining to the differences between humane method of slaughter for food and nature's slaughter for survival. If these were wild cattle on the open range, those day old calves would be the first taken down because of their weaknesses. While I understand that dairy farmers, like everyone else, are feeling the burden of the recession, I would agree to a point that calves should not be sent to market at one day old. However, by the gift of nature to protect young animal life, a 3 day old calf is much stronger and would be able to withstand hauling to a slaughter plant.
We don't need extremism to do what we should be doing in any part of the animal industry. We need common sense and good enforcement of good welfare laws.
The public also needs to do their part and visit animal breeding facilities, (farm and pet) and see how and why animals are kept in the way they are to meet public demands for food and companionship. By so doing, you will also learn to tell the difference between good care and abuse instead of jumping on a bandwagon driven by extremists who want animals separated from humans in every possible way. Do some hands-on research of the roots you've grown away from and you can then make informed decisions and give input that will benefit humans and animals both. If you want to be respected for your choice of being vegan or vegetarian, show the same respect to those who choose the omniverous path. Complacency and extremism create unrest and hatred. Common sense and knowledge create people who are able to work together toward the common goal of good welfare for humans and animals both.

My suggestion for vegans who are so concerned about global warming and CO2, hold your breath. It will help save the planet.

I was aghast to see the video. I wish it were still legal for public stockades. Those men could be put in them and we could throw stones at them.

USDA and it's minions prove over and over they are not capable of policing the food chain, so why should we think that FSIS will be able to do the same. Remember, folks, you can't legislate morality, you can't stop bureaucrats from taking long breaks from work. It was the same deal at Hallmark...the inspectors were outside smoking cigarettes while that abuse was going on.

I know that local food can't feed the world, but, by golly, I am glad that I can go and visit with the farmer and the cow destined for my freezer, if I so chose.

I am only commenting here because I am frustrated at how people just try to reflect the argument for veganism back at people rather than seriously think it through. Eating tofu doesn't deforest the reainforests - most of the soy grown in the world is not eaten by people, let alone vegan people it gets fed to cattle - usually on other continents form where it is grown! And why don't vegans criticise wolves... why don't you ask them rather than assume you know why? My answer would be because a wolf is unable to make an ethical distiction between its food sources, and even if it could would be unable to exercise any choice in the wild. You can I however, are blessed with choice - I choose to live in a way I hope will be peaceful, less harmful to the earth and all the people and animals on it. Mock me if you like - but I don't have to make excuses or create myths about how we are designed to eat meat or be a top predator to justiify myself. It is because I am not just a 'dumb animal' that I let my brain deicde what I eat, not my tongue.

Don't kid your self about eating rice dream or soybeans as they contribute to global warming by creating more than 50% of all the methane gas produced which amounts to 7.9% of all greenhouse gases. Animals contribute less than 17% of that 7.9% total of all green house gases. Soybean fields as a mono culture in Brazil formed by slash and burn contribute to 30% of the methane production and rice paddies, wetlands and tropical forrest contribute to the 83% of methane production. So eating vegan actually causes more methane production than eating meating especially moreso when you count the fossil fuels used to transport the soybeans, rice and other vegan products around the world. Milk just doesn't travel that far and are grass fed as are most cows before they reach the feedlots. Eat grass fed meat and avoid soy as it has been linked to thyroid problems and too much estrogen. Also it has also been linked to lethargy and Alzheimer's when eating too much soy and if it is to become the substitute for milk and beef then you will wind up eating too much soy. Animal abuse is not productive for any farmer nor is it legal. The issue is not the use of meat but how it is cared for until slaughtered. These people should obviously be fined, but the people who watch this abuse and then used it for their own purposes allowing the abusers to continue are just as guilty. They did not report the abuse until it served their purposes to make the public stop eating meat. It is not about eating meat it is about taking good care of our food source and making sure no unnecessary harm comes to the animal. However those of you who taut eating vegan as the cure all please note that we are finding more and more of you long term vegan dieters with irreparable internal organ damage. Pregnant women and children should not eat a strict vegan diet for two reasons one it is hard to know what your protein intact should be and second we do not know all the nutrients we need that we get from meat to be able to make proper substitutions. We do know that babies born in the war to mothers who had no meat or milk products suffered from severe health problems and mental deterioration. If you cannot properly adjust your vegan diet do not inflict this abuse upon your children. Remember its what you don't know that will harm you not what you think you know.

It is always amazing to me that if we as meat eating humans kill an animal for food it is considered by animal rights supporters to be evil. But if a wolf or coyote chases down and starts ripping open the belly of a fawn to eat it before it is even dead, it is considered nature. Disconnect there I think. We as people should make sure the animals we eat are killed humanely. That is why there are laws and regulations. But that lamb or calf was born to be food.Meat is a healthy food source. It is amazing that PETA can kill over 90% of the adoptable animals they take into their one shelter, HSUS can kill pit bull pups just because they are pit bulls, and animal rights wackos would rather see animals starve than become food for humans, but heaven help us if we have one bad apple kill an animal improperly for food for people. Go back to your caves and tofu and leave the rest of the sane world alone.

"The operating practices at Bushway, or any of the other Regulated processing houses in Vermont, are not the core issue here. The issues are in the regulatory process and monetary rewards. In lieu of actually enforcing existing regulations, the USDA is actively seeking to impose new regulations through Food Safety Working Groups, new Legislation, or Traceability of all foods produced in the United States."

http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/bushway-brutality-to-bob-calves-is-a-symptom-of-big-bureaucracy-and-business-part-1/

Day old calves... with their umbilical cords still attached - stolen from their mothers... to be slaughtered, so that humans may drink the milk instead. Gee, don't know that it could get much worse than this... except to skin the calves alive. And the dairy industry does this too! I guess the only thing that could possibly be worse than all this is to have a representative try to convince the public that they are "ethical" in their "care" for the calves. What a bastardization of the English language and an insult to the intended audience. Love my Rice Dream - Go Vegan

"They are in this business because they care about their animals."

Ha, you gotta be kidding me. No wonder a lot of these ag reps don't talk much, because when they do they make themselves look even worse. Let's be honest for a minute and make something clear: nobody gets into animal agriculture because they love animals. They may like raising animals and making money and providing a livelihood for themselves and others, but they sure don't get into it for some deep and profound love of the animal kingdom. As if this wasn't obvious enough, groups like the HSUS are showing us time and time again that these people don't love their animals.

I have a comment. I cannot believe you guys kills calves that are only a few days old! Just when I think I have heard it all, I hear something else horrendous. That has got to be the most evil cruel thing EVER! And it's hard to beat other animal suffering! Those babies just came out of the womb and they are sent to slaughter? Have you NO SHAME??? Just wait until the public hears more and more details of you meat producers. Truly a totally immoral industry if there ever was one.

"Bob Veal"...I want to puke right now because it is just so sad, so cruel and so SICK!