Dear Editor:
It's a shame that some people pick at and tear apart animal agriculture when they obviously know nothing about it.
Anesthesia for animals is tricky and should always be administered by a veterinarian. Animals (mostly dogs and cats) that are spayed, neutered and declawed are done so under the skill of a vet.
With the exception of horses, large animals are never anesthetized for castration or dehorning. Besides the obvious cost involved there is also the issue of tissue damage and residue.
Animals that are castrated at a very young age are up and bouncing around within an hour as though nothing even happened, so I doubt very seriously that it bothers them much.
Why are animals castrated in the first place? Pigs are castrated to avoid what is called boartaint, a putrid smell that spreads throughout the meat when intact pigs are killed at packing houses.
Calves are castrated to avoid bullish behavior exhibited by intact calves in feed lots, fighting, riding other calves and generally a rebellious attitude. The fighting and riding of other calves can cause injury and death in the other calves and riding causes bruising, devaluing the meat. A rebellious attitude can be dangerous to those who work around these animals everyday.
What the general public needs to realize is that there are very sound and science-based reasons that farmers and ranchers do what they do.
Animal welfare groups always seem to be able to find naive, uninformed persons to rail against the livestock industry on issues that the public would understandably have little knowledge of and they use that to further their agenda.
By implementing costly feel-good liberalist humane practices, the farmer or rancher who cannot justify the cost is forced to quit, reducing the supply, raising grocery store prices, and discouraging the consumer from purchasing meat. It's an animal welfarist's dream.
Farmers and ranchers are not cruel and inhumane to their animals, if they were, that profit that Carleen Peitzmeyer is always so worried about would not exist anyway.
Be thankful for the food you eat and those who produce it and be aware of those people who'd like to take that away.
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