Costco Condemns Calf Abuse But Continues to Sell Veal

Following an undercover investigation of a Costco veal supplier, the company condemned the cruel treatment of calves. The recently released video footage, shot by Mercy for Animals in April at Buckeye Veal Farm, shows the brutal reality of the average veal calf's life: chained by the neck in a two-foot wide crate too small for him to comfortably lie down or turn around, from the moment he's taken from his mother until he's slaughtered at about 20 weeks old.

Although the extreme confinement of veal crates has been banned in five U.S. states, as well as the European Union, the industry considers it to be a standard, acceptable practice. "We're telling them flat-out that it's not acceptable to us, and we will not accept any veal from those farms, period," said Jeff Lyons, Costco's senior vice president of fresh foods. "They're going to have to go by our guidelines and policy, regardless of whether that's considered normal practice. It's not for us, and that might sound arrogant, but we just don't think that's the way to treat an animal."

Kudos to Costco for speaking out against farm animal cruelty. Well, sort of. Except they missed the point: There's no such thing as humane veal.

Lyons said they "had no clue the animals were treated like this, and they're a little ticked off." When companies get mad, policies get made. Costco already had a policy for humane treatment of animals from their suppliers, but yesterday, they got more specific about what that means for veal calves.

From now on, any farms who supply veal to Costco are not allowed to tether calves. The animals have to have enough room to move around and lie down and there must be at least two calves to a stall. Caregivers must provide inspections twice a day, nutritious feed and fresh water, third party veterinary care, and independent annual inspections. Though not shown in the video, farmers can't use electric prods on calves or send them to slaughter if they're too weak or sick to stand or walk on their own.

So, veal calves get to turn around, eat and have a little bit of companionship. But they're still torn from their mothers as early as possible (because the dairy industry doesn't want the calves taking milk from the market) and are unlikely to ever see the light of day in their short, sad lives. They can't be prodded, but they might get thrown around and kicked.

"Nutritious feed" or not, unless those caretakers are measuring hemoglobin levels, Costco can bet on the high iron needs of their calves not being met; the pale color of "desirable veal" comes from intentionally-induced anemia,

A few years ago, it was found that 90 percent of veal calves were being given synthetic hormones. Calves are also part of the factory farm system known for rampant use of antibiotics to compensate for unsanitary conditions and inadequate diets. Where do farmers get all these drugs? From those third-party vets that Costco hopes will oversee the health of the animals.

Costco's reaction to the video footage and subsequent policy changes were no doubt fueled by good intentions. But they were snowed once by the veal industry — Lyons said that when employees visited suppliers, they were shown "the best operation," where calves weren't chained in narrow stalls. And now they're letting themselves get snowed again: There is no way to take a calf from his mother, trap him in an indoor stall, deny him his basic needs and kill him before he's six months old, and do it humanely.

The only high standard for veal is not to sell it at all. Tell Costco to stop supporting cruelty and take all veal products, from all suppliers, off the shelves.

Photo credit: greenwenvy08