i think artificial insemination is safer for cattle than being mounted by a bull. that’s likely true across the barnyard. so i’m fine with artificial insemination. i could see some argument about regulating separation practices, but my dairy farming friend tells me some cattle are bad moms and don’t want to suckle their calves. i don’t know how you could regulate any particular cow’s inclination to nurse. and… as for life spans, i don’t think their natural lives, free from veterinary care, provided food, water, shelter, and protection from predators would be any longer than they live now. i don’t know and i’d love to have some real evidence of the lifespan of, say, holsteins in the wild. or broiler chickens.
so all your specific reforms are something id need to be sold on anyway, and i think of myself as a pretty reasonable and sympathetic subject, so you might be right about the difficulty of passing those specific reforms anyway.
but like… good luck.
If we are bringing these animals into the world we are responsible for them. Thats why I bring up natural life, they aren’t in the wild and we are talking about domesticated animals.
As long as they are in our care the rules are different, as far as I see it.
If regulation passed we wouldnt just kill all the remaining animals, we would have to do something for the remainder of their lives until their numbers dwindle.
Probably easier just to ask what reforms you do support, or at least you think would be effective?
We could slaughter them in more pain free ways, but it doesnt’t change that they don’t consent to be killed. Thats sort of a non starter for vegans.
They already are supposed to have clean living conditions and there are penalties for animal abuse, they just are rarely reported and punished.
I think the problem I have with regulation is it rarely seems to work out when we do get regulations. They are written deceptively, and then aren’t enforced.
I suppose that doesnt mean good regulation is impossible but its part of my reluctance.
