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Callous treatment

Kudos to Flip Grater for roasting the dairy industry for its environmental damage and its callous treatment of bobby calves. I grew up on a Canadian dairy farm when the frantic rush for income was not so apparent and one could drink the well water without worrying about nitrate contamination.

Bobby calves were allowed to grow into steers and had some reasonable experience of life.

In New Zealand, I ran a beef cattle stud for 20 years and occasionally bought in bobby calves to allow grieving cows to have replacements for ones that had died. I found that dairy farmers I dealt with were usually most inhumane with their male calves. Many were starved to death. Some were tossed on trucks or dealt to with sledgehammers.

The cows robbed of their calves would grieve for days. Flip Grater is right to bring these concerns to our attention. What price to our conscience to condone such activities in striving for the almighty farm dollar and what price to the conscience of consumers for ignoring or tolerating these practices that supply their (unnecessary) milk privilege to them?

Lorne Kuehn, Avonhead

Opinion | Letters

en-nz

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281844353017321

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