VegSocUK Information Sheet THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY ___________________________________ CATTLE There are around 12 million cattle in the UK. Cattle are reared for either beef or milk production. DAIRY COWS There are over 3 million dairy cows and heifers in-calf in the UK (heifers are young cows over one year old). Fresian and Holstein breeds account for most dairy cattle. Dairy heifers are first used for breeding at 15-18 months. Up to 75% of dairy cows in the UK are impregnated by artificial insemination (AI). Bulls are first used for breeding from one year old and a single animal can sire over 15 000 calves a year by AI. Pregnancy lasts about 9 1/2 months and so heifers will be around 2 years old when they first give birth. Cows are impregnated again 2 to 3 months after each calving. Lactation lasts for 10 months and so the cow is simultaneusly pregnant and lactating for 6 to 8 months during each calving cycle. Cows have a 6 to 8 week period between lactation ceasing and their next calving. Most calves are taken away from their mother within 24 hours and the cow is milked for about ten months. Milking occurs teo or three times a day and is fully mechanised. Selective breeding and concentrated feeds have meant dairy cows can produce ten times more milk than calves would suckle if given the opportunity. A typical dairy cow produces between 5000 and 6000 litres of milk a year and many will give even higher yields. This massive overproduction of milk has severe welfare implications for dairy cows and has resulted in a number of so-called production diseases. The majority of dairy cows graze on pasture during spring and summer months and are housed indoors in cowsheds during the winter. About seven months a year are spent indoors. The practice of keeping dairy cows indoors for most, if not all, of the year is increasing. Cows are usually either kept in sheds with a straw-covered bedding area and an unbedded concrete floored area or in free stall housing where cows are not constrained and can chose which cubicle to enter. Houses in which cows remain tethered in individual stalls are becoming less popular as it is inconvient for milking. WELFARE AND DISEASE Dairy cows can suffer from a range of welfare and disease problems which are related to the high yields required by the modern dairy industry. One of the most common problems is mastitis with over one-third of the UK dairy herd contracting this every year. Mastitis is a painful infection of the udder which can lead to depressed appetite, dehydration and severe diarrhoea and can be fatal. It is commonly caused by poor hygiene in cubicle houses and milking parlours, especially where cattle are forced to lie in damp, dirty straw bedding. The way in which cows are milked, milk being extracted by a method known as vacuum pulsation, also means that tissue may be weakened and so more prone to infection. Overmilking can also cause teat injuries leading to mastitis. Lameness (foot inflammation) affects around 25% of dairy cows each year with practically all showing signs of foot damage by the time they are slaughtered. Cows suffering from lameness can be in considerable pain. Lameness is most commonly due to the abnormally large udder of the dairy cow distorting the gait and posture of the cows hind limbs so predisposing to foot damage and subsequent lameness. Lameness can also be caused or exacerbated by inappropriate housing or feeding. Many cows are still housed in cubicles built 20 to 30 years ago. Today's dairy cows are larger and longer than their predecessors and are often forced to stand with their hind feet in the passageway in which manure collects. This can soften the cows hooves and encourages infection. The use of silage rather than hay as the main winter fodder has increased the problem as cows eating silage excrete more urine and wetter faeces causing more problems with wet bedding and wet slurry in passageways. Dairy cows are fed starchy, high protein concentrated feeds in order to maintain high milk yields. These can lead to ruminal acidosis in which the rumen becomes increasingly acidic. Acidosis leads to inflammatory substances being released into the blood which supplies the sensitive laminae of the cows feet. The feet become hot, swollen and inflammed causing lameness. Acidosis can also lead to the problem of ketosis. Ketosis is a very common disease that occurs during early lactation and is due to the cows metabolism being pushed too hard in order to sustain milk yield. Cows with ketosis become progressively depressed and lethargic. In severe cases cows lose weight, become dehydrated and show nervous, agitated behaviour such as delerium, bellowing and walking in circles. Another disease prevalent among high yielding dairy cows is milk fever (also known as parturient hypocalcaemia). This is caused by the sudden depletion of the body's calcium reserves due to the onset of milk production after giving birth. If untreated, the cow become progressively weaker and is unable to stand. Suffering from shock and bloating, death follows, most likely due to heart or respiratory failure. Milk fever affects between 5% and 8% of dairy cows in many herds and this is considered normal. Cows can also suffer from a range of other diseases. These can include grass staggers (due to magnesium deficiency), viral pneumonia, salmonellosis, bovine virus diarrhoea, brucellosis (causing abortion) and endometritis, an inflammation of the uterus caused by poor hygiene at calving. Bovine spongiform encepholopathy (BSE) is another disease of cattle which has received widespread attention. Over 100 000 cases of BSE have been confirmed and as most animals are slaughtered before they are old enough to show any symptoms the true number of infected animals is probably closer to 500 000. SLAUGHTER Most cows are slaughtered by throat cutting (called sticking) following stunning using a captive bolt pistol. This is held to the cows head and the bolt penetrates the brain when fired. However, the use of a captive bolt does not always succesfully stun the animal. The most common failure in stunning is due to improper positioning of the bolt. This is a particular problem where cattle are agitated and struggling. Other problems may be due to inadequate maintanence of the pistol. Mis-stunning causes considerable distress and can mean the animal is still conscious during throat cutting. Calves are likely to be stunned electrically. Electrical stunning of calves induces a much shorter period of unconsciousness than in other species (around 18 seconds). Calves also take longer to lose brain function after throat cutting. Because of this many calves show clear signs of recovery during bleeding out. Over 3.38 million cattle were slaughtered in the UK in 1992. ___________________________________ // This article is copyright to the Vegetarian Society (UK), but may be freely copied for non-commercial use provided it is kept intact, not altered and these lines are included. For futher information contact: The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, England. Tel: (England) 061 928 0793 email: vegsoc@vegsoc.demon.co.uk // [The text of this file was obtained from the Vegetarian Society (UK) in March 1995.]