Why is veal legal

As crates are being phased out, bob veal is gaining in popularity. Without the confinement of a crate, the calves move around and their muscles toughen. Because the calves slaughtered for bob veal are so young, their muscles have not yet developed and are very tender, which is considered desirable. Some farmers now offer "humane veal," meaning meat from calves that are raised without veal crates.

While this addresses some people's concerns about veal, animal advocates tend to believe that "humane veal" is an oxymoron. From an animal rights perspective, it doesn't matter how much room the calves have before they are slaughtered—they're still slaughtered!

The animal rights goal is not to give the calves more room or to feed them a more natural diet, but for people to stop eating these meats altogether and switch to a vegan lifestyle.

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In this system, calves are reared with their mothers in the suckler herd and may be weaned before slaughter. This system is capable of providing the highest level of welfare for calves reared for veal as they are neither separated from their mother nor transported to rearing farms.

Calves reared in suckler herds have the health and psychological benefits of suckling from their mother, a normal diet and increased opportunities for natural behaviour, social interaction and exercise. Calves reared to Freedom Food standards are group housed in deep straw-bedded barns. They have greater space allowance and their diet must prevent anaemia and any mineral or vitamin deficiency.

They receive more iron than minimum UK legal requirements and unweaned calves must have unlimited access to grass or a minimum amount of fibrous feed. We promise not to spam you and you can unsubscribe anytime. Privacy Policy. This site uses cookies to improve your user experience. By using this site you agree to these cookies being set. To find out more see our cookies policy. You are using an outdated browser which we do not support. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security.

If you have any further questions regarding this, or any other matter, please get in touch with us at supporters ciwf. We aim to respond to all queries within two working days. However, due to the high volume of correspondence that we receive, it may occasionally take a little longer. Please do bear with us if this is the case. Farm animals Cows Veal calves Dairy cows. Farm animals Calves reared for veal Read more. Since the ban on veal crates was introduced in January , calves up to eight weeks old may be kept in individual pens, where they can turn around and be in contact with other calves.

After this, they are reared in groups of up to 80 calves, often in sheds with a wooden slatted floor. Organic veal calves with nurse cows and straw bedding. Sign up for our newsletter. Veal calves are typically male Holstein-Friesians, who cannot produce milk, and are therefore sold by the dairy industry to be slaughtered for profit.

Veal is a popular cut of meat in Europe, and the EU produces about 82 percent of global veal. The meat is rarely consumed in the U. It once had a reputation for being exceptionally cruel, an image farmers in the U. However, despite reforms to certain national veal industries, the realities of veal production remain cruel. Indeed, due to its intimate relationship with dairy, veal poses a moral hazard that goes beyond the purchasing of the meat. Bob veal is meat from calves killed at anything from a couple of hours to a month old, but who are typically under two weeks of age.

As veal crates have been outlawed in several U. Bob veal accounts for about 15 percent of the U. Slink veal is the youngest possible veal, harvested from stillborn or unborn calves. It is normally collected from cows that are pregnant when slaughtered. Slink veal is illegal to consume in the U. Some bob veal is removed from the mother immediately after birth to be shot. The process of separating a calf and mother is a highly traumatic one for both individuals.

A large body of research has established that mothers and calves gain a strong emotional bond immediately after birth. A mother cow will cry out for days after separation, hoping to receive a response from her calf, which has either been transported to another part of the farm, or abroad, or has already been slaughtered. They will exhibit negative reactions to ambiguous stimuli after violent and traumatic events.

Indications of stress, like showing more whites in their eyes, will be present after such separations. In short, the animals suffer greatly from the practice of separation, the first major cruelty perpetrated in the manufacture of veal. Calves separated from their mothers and the herd will exhibit abnormal behaviors This is in part due to their being raised in isolation, without gaining any benefits from socializing, and also because of the conditions, they are kept in.

Cows raised in isolation, typical on those farms which still use veal crates, will exhibit a large range of abnormal behaviors including bar biting, tongue rolling, and excessive resting.

These repetitive behaviors, called stereotypies, are indicators of mental anguish and poor welfare standards. Veal calves tend to be fed a milk substitute that contains insufficient amounts of nutrients, and particularly lacks iron.

This leads to abnormal gut development in the animals, as their insufficient diet causes them to have chronic diarrhea. The lack of iron also causes the calves to suffer from anemia, which gives the animals their prized white flesh whilst making the calves lethargic, weak and unwell.

Comprehensive scientific evidence shows that calves experience significant stress when handled and transported, particularly over long distances. Young calves are badly adapted to long journeys due to their underdeveloped immune and stress response systems. Long transport journeys for calves can result in anywhere between 1 and 23 percent mortality in a given group, from factors like diarrhea, exhaustion, and exposure to heat or cold. Over 1 million veal calves are transported around Europe each year, and even a high-welfare country like the U.

In one study of Swiss dairy and veal farmers, no bedding was provided for any of the calves transported over long distances, even though this was mandated by law.