Monday, October 12, 2009

Treats on the Internets

Birds hosting flu virus may develop drug resistant strains due to modern man's lifestyle

CA Governor vetoes AB 241 which was a bad quality care=number of intact pets bill. Ironically, the special interests behind the bill are upset that "special interests" are the reason for the veto.

Dolittler takes up the wet vs. dry cat food debate

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against TLAC in Austin requested a temporary halt to the cat killing there (scroll down to bottom)

US dairy industry needs mo(o) money

Speaking of which, here is a rebuttal to a PETA "expose" video taken at a dairy farm

And one more on dairy cattle: no more tail docking in CA

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That's a lame rebuttal from Cathy Mills.

1) Cattle do not naturally have "liquidy" manure. This is a by-product of feeding a ruminant a biologically inappropriate diet of grain. Cattle on a grass fed diet, in a healthy digestive state, do not have liquid manure but have semi-solid to solid, normal looking cow poop.

2) Cows do not do "stupid things" when they come in for food. A wet cement floor is a nightmare for any large mammal - it is not natural nor is it at all conducive for the size, weight and hooves of cattle. Slipping is to be expected when you allow large mammals onto wet cement floors using a lure, like food. That's hardly "stupid" - it's just setting up the cattle to fail physically.

3) It's a little disingenuous to argue that teats are dipped in medicine...well, it's more of a stretch. Betadine, iodine and chlorhexidine are commonly used to "sterilize" teats before and after milking. I've milked cows for a small farm (200 head) and it is virtually impossible to get the "45 second" sterilization amount we were told to achieve - goes too fast, too many cows to milk. I can see easily on an operation with 500+ cows that sterilization of teats may not be most effective. It's a quick process, not a nice, slow walk in the park to sterilization heaven.

4) Mastitis is not merely caused by "external" germs. It can be caused by overmilking and the overstimulation of the mammary glands, creating a nice environment for pathogens. The fact is that 50-60% of DAIRY cows exhibit mastitis. The rates of mastitis in beef cows? 0-15% depending on breed, location and method of housing.

5) Cattle do not like to lay in the mud. That is not normal bovine behavior nor does it offer any type of physical protection that mud does for a heat-sensitive/sun-sensitive pig. You would be hard-pressed to find a veterinarian or "cattle scientist" who would argue that laying in mud willingly is a)normal or b) healthy.

6) It is insulting that the woman blames cows who have been bred to be too large, with oversized udders and who are depleted of nutrients b/c of pregnancy and lactation. She blames Holstein cows (94-96% of all dairy cows) for not getting up b/c they're too dumb or "just don't want to" or whatever her reasoning is. The obvious answer is that most downed cows are mid-age, strained from too much lactation and are physically exhausted from their years of pregnancy and lactation.

I don't care how you feel about PETA, this article is so full of misinformation, it's ridiculous.