Two farming stories have made headlines in the world press this week and both have been disturbing.

The one that has affected us most is the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) undercover revelations and petitioning to stop ALL Sea Turtle farming and of course singles out the only sea farming turtle farm. Ours! They want it closed down because of their claims of cruelty and have posted an online petition to get public support from across the world.

iNews Cayman has written many articles and editorials on the subject since we first announced the WSPA petition to the Cayman Islands on Thursday 11^th October at 9pm. Since then the rest of Cayman’s media have followed and media across the rest of the world has jumped on the bandwagon too, with Sir Paul McCartney signing the petition, to much publicity, even from himself.

I am not going to write here on the merits and demerits of the accusations as I have already done that and I am waiting hopefully for a better response from our government than the one about the “unique connection between turtles and Caymanians.”

The WSPA claim that there is a difference between turtle farming because other forms of farming like dairy cattle have been going on for centuries and the animals are “domesticated”. Hmm.

If the WSPA had centred their campaign against the Cayman Turtle farm solely on the cruelty aspect, foul conditions, overcrowding, etc. I would have been 100% behind them but they have gone further. Their petition calls for the establishment to close as a sea turtle farm.

And the reason is cruelty.

The second story that hit the headlines also concerned cruelty. A story far more barbaric cruelty than anything shown on the WSPA video of sea turtle farming.

We have published a CNN story today titled “Idaho dairy fires 5 workers in animal abuse video”.

I watched the video on CNN Headline News (HLN) on Friday night and my stomach turned over in horror. I never-the-less urge you to watch it and the link is posted with the story.

The story concerns the terrible cruelty dished out to dairy farm animals but the HLN video also claims cruelty has been going on for years at many other dairy farms and the managers and owners MUST know about it.

A website called Factory Farm Cruelty says:

“These animals [cows] have no voice, so we need to be theirs. Their freedom, sociability and quality of life is stripped. They spend their whole lives in these cages and pens around the country for the sake of their meat. Calves have it real hard, they can’t even move in their crates so society can eat veal. I have not eaten veal in 14 years. These animals DO deserve better.

Another website Vegan Peace asks the question – “Do cows need to be milked?”

“Cows are mammals. Just like other mammals, when a cow has a baby, her body will make enough milk for her baby. In a normal situation, cows don’t need any help getting rid of too much milk. The goal of the dairy industry however, is to make as much money as possible. To get more money, they have several commonly used methods to get cows to produce more milk:

1. a dairy cow is impregnated every year, so she continues to produce a steady supply of milk. This is usually done through artificial insemination.
2. calves are removed from their mothers almost right after birth.
3. especially in intensive dairy farming, cows are genetically engineered and fed growth hormones to force them to produce more milk.

After giving birth, their babies are removed from them and kept in another building. I asked someone who works at the dairy farm about this and was told that removing the calves after birth is “standard practice in the dairy industry”.

“The very saddest sound in all my memory was burned into my awareness at age five on my uncle’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. A cow had given birth to a beautiful male calf. The mother was allowed to nurse her calf but for a single night. On the second day after birth, my uncle took the calf from the mother and placed him in the veal pen in the barn – only ten yards away, in plain view of the mother. The mother cow could see her infant, smell him, hear him, but could not touch him, comfort him, or nurse him. The heartrending bellows that she poured forth – minute after minute, hour after hour, for five long days – were excruciating to listen to. They are the most poignant and painful auditory memories I carry in my brain.”

Dr. Michael Klaper

In the dairy industry, calves are removed from their mothers not long after being born (either right after birth or within 1-2 days). Female calves will be raised to become dairy cows and male calves will be raised and slaughtered for meat. Most male calves are killed for beef, but some will end up in the awful veal industry.

After being removed from their mothers, veal calves are loaded onto trucks and often sold at auctions. These small and fragile calves are often treated very roughly. If they are unable to walk, they will be dragged by their legs or ears.

Veal calves are confined in crates measuring about two feet wide. To make their meat more “tender”, their movements are restrained by chains around their necks. To give a white color to their meat, the calves are fed an all-liquid milk-substitute, purposely deficient in iron and fiber. After about 16 weeks, these poor calves are slaughtered and their meat is sold labeled as “white” veal. “Bob” veal comes from calves who are slaughtered when they are only a few hours or days old.

Most cows in the regular dairy industry are also given growth hormones, causing their udders to become unnaturally big and heavy, resulting in frequent infections. The Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) also increases birth defects in calves.

The average modern dairy cow will produce about 100 pounds of milk per day, which is 10 times more than it would naturally produce. Normally cows can live an average of 25 years. Dairy cows are slaughtered and made into ground beef after about 3-4 years. Because of the intense abuse wrought upon their poor bodies, dairy cows – like beef cattle – also frequently end up being unable to walk or stand, causing them to be severely mistreated.

You can read more at

http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/dairy.htm

No one has ever called for Cattle farming to be stopped. All dairy farms should be closed. Have you ever seen a petition saying they should?

Yes. The cruelty MUST stop, even if it means we have to pay more for it.

Then there all those chickens. The battery hen farming.

And ……. Etc. etc.

But why is SEA turtle farming singled out to be stopped? One media report says “the scandal of breeding sea turtles for food.” Is the writer really that insane? It is a scandal to breed for FOOD? Oh, it’s just sea turtles but I don’t see how the ‘scandal’ verb fits in.

There are many freshwater turtle farms especially in China. Why have they been exempted?

Maybe Sir Paul can answer my question. He seems to be an expert on the subject. On his website he says:

“The Cayman Turtle Farm is the last place on Earth that breeds endangered sea turtles for food”, adding on Twitter.com, “There is no humane way to farm sea turtles.”