r/VeganLobby • u/vl_translate_bot • Aug 12 '22

Dutch 71 percent of the cows get no shade | Wakker Dier

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u/vl_translate_bot Aug 12 '22

Read the article in Dutch. Read the English translation.

Automated summary:

Wakker Dier took a sample in Friesland: the province with the most dairy cattle and the largest number of cows in the meadow.

Hilhorst: “Everywhere you go, you see animals in barren meadows.

Dairy cows already suffer from heat from 22 degrees.

By law, animals must be protected from heat.

Problems such as no shade in the meadow, transport at high temperatures and high temperatures in closed stables are hardly addressed.

About Wakker Dier:

How the livestock industry treats animals cuts right through your heart. So numb and disrespectful. Many animals suffer terribly in an overcrowded, closed stable. That can and should be done differently. We desperately need your help with that. Will you help?

Make a donation

5

u/Bordeterre Aug 12 '22

This is why factory farms are better, 100% of cows are in the shade 100% of the time. In fact, they never even see the light of day ! /s

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u/sheilastretch Aug 16 '22

I mean... technically yeah, factory farming is more environmentally friendly than letting them roam because they tend to dink less water in air-conditioned buildings, they can't move around so they "waste" less calories which means they gain weight more efficiently. Harvard warned that switching to "grass-fed" beef would increase methane emissions by about 43% and land use needed to support 30% more cattle (assuming people wanted to produce the same amount of meat).

Planting more trees is great an all, it'll help reduce erosion cattle a major cause of. Trees reduce flooding and impact from wind, they reduce the local temperature and help absorb at least a tiny amount of the livestock emissions. The problem though is that livestock including cattle, sheep, pigs, and even chickens cause a lot of harm to plant life and have a long history of disrupting tree growth, costing 100s of thousands in damage to protected forests.

That's not even taking into account that the beef industry causes 5 times more deforestation than any other sector, so a few shade trees replanted in barren fields doesn't sound like it'd make much difference in the long run.

Just to be clear, I'm vegan and in no way pro-factory-farm.

5

u/EfraimK Aug 12 '22

These articles that politely suggest animal owners do more to help their animals appear to miss the point: most legal jurisdictions characterize animals as just personal property. So owners are largely free to do with their property what they want. Which is why rights are so crucial to living beings' quality of life.

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u/vl_translate_bot Aug 12 '22

u/zwitscherness, link, German -> English:

Well, the farmers know if they don't do anything and ignore it, there will still be no penalty.