Sunday, June 9, 2013

World Milk Day -June 1st- But the other side on the fate of Cattle!- Cowu Cowu, Holy Cowu...No More Lovuuuu...Its just a business and bargains for the benefit for Man...with cruelty to Animals...No more Cow is a form of Goddess as we were taught!

Cows' Milk is for Calves-  Is it really?

Dairy Industry
India Stands No 1 in the world
Followed by USA
Investment: Rs 2242 Crores
Demand: 150 Million tonnes of Milk
Target Year: 2016-17
Result
Tragedy to Cows
Production through artificial insemination
Government Proposal
Increase Animal Husbandry , Dairying and Fisheries
Productivity enhancement
Village Level Infrastructure growth
Greater access to world markets

India is cattle capital of the world
324 Million herd
Result:  Pollution, Fodder demands and illegal business
Cruelty to Animals
Myth-1
Cow is an Indian God, worshiped and protected.
Valued as a family member and loved raising in homes
Reality :  Horror show of cruelty.   Cow slaughtering and milking is a big business
Myth-2
Milk is source of calcium
Reality:  Osteoporosis is caused due to consumption of milk and have more calcium in the diet
-          There is no connection between bone health and consumption of milk

Myth 3
Cattle rearing is protecting of animals
Reality-  Cattle growing numbers for business is a bane to environment
-          Bovines produce Methane when they pass gas
-          Each Bovine produces anywhere between 100 Lt's- 500 litres of methane per day- equivalent to carbon dioxide emission from a car for one day
-          Huge bovine population makes methane a dangerous pollutant
Ecological imbalance:
-          Producing fodder is a strain on scarce land and water resources
-          Animal agriculture occupies 30% of earth’s land area
-          Forested areas are let to graze or grow feed for farmed animals
-          Effecting the cost of increase in prices of plant based diet
-           

Various ways of cruelty
1.        Artificial insemination
2.       Infertility due to 360 days of pregnancy
3.       Poor equipment
4.       Lack of proper training
5.       Calves are separated from the mothers the next day of their birth
6.       Cow and Calves don’t have a chance to experience the joys of motherhood to avoid the calves drinking off the full milk
7.       Bellows of thirsty calves go unnoticed
8.       Calves are treated as Replacement Stocks
9.       Increasing yield by injecting harmones like Oxytocin which is actually banned in India
10.   Hormonal injections result in abortions, mastitis, lower conception rate, calves in fact mortality, delayed puberty.
11.   Milk cows expected to give birth  to calves every year.
12.   50% of calves which are males are used to ploughing or butchered
13.   Sheltered in dark, cramped and acrid quarters
14.   Male calves are let to starve to death, thus suffering an early death
15.   Cows are kept pregnant almost 360 days in a year resulting in them drying up at the age of 6 or 7 instead of usual 14 years of their life span
16.   Milked overly, suffering from artificial insemination, hormonal injections and trauma of separation
17.   Trafficked for slaughtering under inhuman conditions
18.   Non milking cows are let to live on food from streets and plastic waste
Products:
1.       Skin is used for leather
2.       Cow leather is used to make seat covers, shoes, belts, purses,  pouches and sandals.
3.       Meat is used for domestic consumption and exports
4.       Calf leather has huge demand and calf meat called Veal is in high demand in Middle East
5.       Unborn calves meat is used for medicines
6.       Cattle’s heart tissues are used to rebuild livers
7.       Horns and Hoofs are used to make buttons, adhesives, plastics, pet food, plant food, shampoos and conditioners, boards, lamination paper, and plywood.
8.       Blood is used for making pasta, imitation eggs,  cake mixes,  dyes and inks,  adhesives,  minerals, medicines, and laboratory research materials
9.       Flesh is used for meat
10.   Tail is used for fertility treatment
11.   Bones used for whitening sugar and producing Gelatin, Charcoal, fertilizers and Glass
12.   Anti-aging creams and medicines are produced from cattle brains
13.   Hair is used to make air filters, Brushes, insulation, plaster and textiles
14.   Internal organs are used to make musical instruments, tennis racquet's strings, harmones, enzymes,  vitamins and surgical sutures other medicinal materials
15.   Milk is used to make adhesives,  plastics,  cosmetics and medicines
16.   Manure is used for fertilizers , nitrogen and phosphorous
17.   Skin is used to make gelatin,  flavorings,  emery boards, wallpapers, sheets, candies and confectionery
18.   Fat is used to make chewing gums, candies, detergents, fabric softeners, deos, shaving creams, perfume, pet food,  cosmetics, creams and lotions, crayons and paint, oils and lubricants,  bio diesel and plastics, waterproofing agents, cement,  ceramics, chalk , explosives,  fireworks,  matches, fertilizers, antifreeze, insulation's, linoleum, rubber,  textiles and medicines.
People Vs Vegans
Population of 1.2 Billion
400 Million Vegetarians only
Laws Governing slaughter houses
28 states have laws for protection legislation's
Less or no stringent laws in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Lakshadweep, and largerly Kerala
Organizations fighting for Animal rights
1.       People for Cattle in India (PFCI)

Slaughter Houses
India- 3600 slaughter houses
9 Modern Abattoirs
171 Meat processing units
Illegal slaughter houses account to more than 30000 in India which are unregulated
India – Biggest Beef Exporter
16,80,0000 tonnes of beef and Veal exports followed by Brazil and Australian  in 2013
Forecast increase to record 2.16 million tonnes
1.24 Billions $s worth of beef exported in 2012
1.4 million tonnes of cattle legally slaughtered in 2012 nationwide

Key:  Government subsidies for increasing export market
One dead animal is worth close to Rs. 30000
Tax payer money is used to give subsidies to gain export revenues in dairy products, leather and beef industries.
Solution
Plant based diet
Production of protein rich plant based foods such as legumes, Soybeans, pulses, fruits, nuts using land and water resources that are other wise used to produce cattle feed
If we have to let the food on the plates of our children, then going Vegan is the only way!
Source:  An thought provoking article in Hindu newspaper recently