Cattle are run on almost half the Australian continent, including some very hostile environments. There are large cattle herds around Alice Springs and other outback areas, where they roam over huge properties and receive very little care. They are infrequently mustered, so diseases, injuries and calving difficulties go untreated. Cattle suffer and die in these conditions.
Cattle are kept in outback areas where there is no shade and temperatures can be extreme. A new calf born into a very dry paddock.
Temperatures can be extreme and there is minimal shelter. Even in the southern states, cattle can be seen in paddocks with no shade when the temperature is over 40 degrees (measured in the shade). Drought is common in many areas, and feed becomes scarce. Although it is illegal to allow cattle to starve, farmers are still charged from time to time. For example, in 2005 a WA farmer was fined for letting 120 cows starve, and in 2009 in SA a farmer was investigated when 800 cattle starved on his properties.
Mutilations
A number of painful mutilations are allowed to be carried out on cattle without any pain relief. If the same thing were done to a dog or cat, the person would be taken to court and charged with cruelty, but it is no less painful for cattle. Procedures include:
- Speying females
- Castrating males
- Fire branding
Speying (cutting out the ovaries) of female cattle is routine in outback areas because conditions are so poor that cows may not survive giving birth to and suckling a calf, or would be too thin to sell. In the past, flank speying was carried out, where a cut was made in the side of the cow and the operator put his hand through the cut into the abdomen to remove the ovaries. The pain this caused is hard to imagine.
Now the Willis dropped ovary technique, using a specially designed tool, is recommended. Normally surgery is only allowed to be done by a vet, but in Queensland there is a special exemption to allow farmers to use the Willis method, which is described as follows in the Veterinary Surgeon's Regulations:
- (a) enter the abdomen by piercing the wall of the vagina with the instrument’s spearhead; and
- (b) place each ovary, by rectal manipulation, in the oval hole in the instrument’s spearhead; and
- (c) sever the ovaries with the sharp edge of the slit in the instrument’s spearhead by retracting the instrument.
Remember there is no pain relief for this surgery.
Young males are castrated by cutting open the scrotum with a knife and removing the testes. The calves struggle violently and kick their back legs during this mutilation, showing how painful it is. Very young calves may be castrated by placing a tight rubber ring around the top of the scrotum so that it withers and falls off. The calves are restless and stamp their feet, showing that this method is also painful.
Castration is more painful for older calves. This is particularly a problem in outback areas, the so-called pastoral zone, where cattle are infrequently mustered. Young males may already be many months old when they are castrated, and suffer more pain as a result.
Branding with a red hot iron causes a third degree burn and is excruciatingly painful. If applied to humans it would be called torture. The terror shows in the eyes of the calves.
While many cattle are now identified by ear tags, hot iron branding is still allowed. A red hot iron is placed on the animal's skin for several seconds to produce a permanent burn scar. Anyone who has ever been burned will know how painful this is.
Feedlots
Around a quarter of cattle in Australia are fattened in feedlots before being slaughtered. They are fed an unnatural grain diet, which can not only cause digestive problems in an animal designed to digest grass, but also contributes to the grain shortage in the world. Cattle may be fed chicken litter, which is cleaned out of sheds after chickens have dropped their faeces in it for 6 weeks, as long as there are no dead birds in the litter and it has been treated to kill bacteria. In 1990, 5500 cattle on 2 Queensland feedlots died of botulism are eating poorly treated chicken litter. It is now illegal in Queensland but not elsewhere.
When it rains, crowded feedlots become wet and muddy, while they are hot and dusty in summer.
Feedlots crowd large numbers of cattle together. In the dry season they become dusty and when it is wet cattle stand in mud. Some feedlots provide shelter from the blazing sun, but there is no law that requires them to do so. In 1991, 2500 cattle died of heat stroke in a feedlot without shade, and another 1250 died in a Riverina feedlot
Transport and slaughter
Cattle, especially from the outback, are transported very long distances to slaughter. According to standards drafted in 2009, they can be kept for 48 hours without food and water. They become extremely fatigued on long journeys as they brace to keep their balance. The discomfort of travel includes rough roads, dust, noise, vibration and the stops, starts and cornering of the truck. Transport for semi-feral outback cattle is stressful for other reasons as well. They may be mustered with aircraft in rough terrain. They have had very little contact with humans and dogs, and can be moved into trucks and yards roughly with electric prods.
Cattle who didn't survive the journey to the slaughterhouse. Unconscious cattle hoisted for slaughter.
At the slaugherhouse, most cattle are knocked unconscious by a captive bolt pistol held to the forehead before they are hoisted by the legs and have their throat cut. However, there are exceptions for ritual slaughter. For kosher (Jewish) slaughter, animals may have their throat cut before they are stunned, so they feel the pain and terror of being cut.
You can take a stand against cruelty by not eating animals. Try the not-beef Spaghetti Bolognese or Mushroom Pasta.
Environmental problems
According to a 2006 UN report, livestock industries generate more green-house gas emissions than all the cars, planes, ships and trains in the world combined. For a summary of this report, go to Livestock's Long Shadow . The cattle industry contributes to global warming in two main ways, deforestation and methane emission. In South America, vast stretches of Amazon forest have been cleared to make way for cattle ranches, or to grow soy beans to feed cattle in feedlots. Trees are burned once they are knocked over, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Almost three quarters of land clearing in Australia has been for grazing
Cattle produce large quantities of methane because of the way they digest food in their 4 stomachs. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Fast facts
- There were 27.3 million cattle and calves in Australia in 2008
- 8.2 million cattle were slaughtered in 2006-7
- 2 million cattle were grainfed in feedlots
- Farms with cattle occupy 75% of Australia's agricultural land, or 43% of the entire land mass
Have a look at the following photo galleries
- PETA
- All Creatures This is a general site about cattle, including beef cattle. It also has a counter to show many animals are killed in the time you are looking at the site. WARNING There are some very graphic images.
