Day 291 - 31 Oct 96 - Page 22


     
     1        the short life-span of cows reared for the dairy industry
     2        and the meat industry.  On page 12, he referred to the
     3        distress caused to the cows and calves when they were being
     4        separated.  When Mr. Morris asked him about how the cow
     5        reacted to the calf being taken away, he said, "They vary,
     6        but obviously this is distressing.  The mooing and
     7        bellowing of cows and calves when they are separated is an
     8        unfortunate countryside sound if they are not kept inside.
     9        Some are separated at a very young age, just a day or two
    10        old."  He said that cows were very maternal animals and
    11        that there was stress on the calf as well. "The distress
    12        from the mother cow could last for several days."
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   You need not go through it, as I said more
    15        than once.  Just give me the reference, if you want to do
    16        that, and say what the topic is.  For instance, my note is,
    17        'Day 113, page 12, distress to cows and calves and being
    18        separated'.  In fact, I have gone on a bit, because that is
    19        all you really need to say.  Then I can look at Dr. Long
    20        myself.
    21
    22   MS. STEEL:   I am trying to keep it short.  Yes.  He related on
    23        page 16 about the output from the modern British dairy cow
    24        was about 5,500 litres a year.  He said that was about
    25        twice what it would have been just after World War Two.  He
    26        said that there were welfare implications about the
    27        increased amount of milk that they are producing.
    28
    29        Just with reference to that point, to make the comparison,
    30        on day 113, page 18 he said that a sucker cow would produce
    31        about three litres of milk for a calf, which is what the
    32        calf needs, compared with a dairy cow producing milk for
    33        humans -- well, producing milk for the calves but the
    34        humans are taking it all -- and that that dairy cow would
    35        be yielding up to 30 litres, ten times as much as it would
    36        be in nature.  The consequences of this, or one of the
    37        consequences, and a frequent consequence, was mastitis and
    38        Dr. Long said that there are about 35 cases of mastitis for
    39        every 100 cows in a British herd.  It is a very prevalent
    40        disease, it is what is called by vets and others 'a
    41        production disease'.  In other words, a disease brought on
    42        by the excessive pressure of production or
    43        over-production.
    44
    45        He said it is a very painful disease.  He referred to the
    46        fact that because of the amount of the milk that they are
    47        having to produce there is an enormous strain on the udder,
    48        which means that it may drop, and it means that that would
    49        mean that the cow could not walk properly and therefore may
    50        become lame as a result of not being able to walk 
    51        properly. 
    52 
    53        Just a point on the matter which I raised this morning
    54        about birds continuing to lay eggs and can carry on eating
    55        because they are supposedly happy.  Or the argument being
    56        that they do that because they are happy -- or it shows
    57        that they are happy, the fact that they are doing it.  Dr.
    58        Long said on day 113, page 15 -- in terms of the cow
    59        continuing to give milk and whether or not the fact that
    60        she continued to give milk meant that everything was OK --

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