Investigation Reveals the High Cost of Costco Veal

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-08-31 09:57:00 UTC
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Mercy for Animals, the organization that brought you the undercover footage of sadistic animal abuse at Conklin Dairy Farm, has released their latest investigation. This time, they went undercover to Buckeye Veal Farm in Apple Creek, Ohio.

The fact that veal is cruel cuisine shouldn't come as a surprise. If, for some reason, you've been eating it with no idea what it is, veal is baby cow. The pale color that chefs and gourmands love so much? That comes from deliberately inducing anemia and weakness, which is done by taking the calves from their mothers (a.k.a. dairy cows, like those at Conklin) and shoving them into crates to ensure that they have an unhealthy existence with as little exercise as possible. In other words, it's flesh from a sick animal.

That's what Mercy for Animals found at Buckeye Veal Farm, a Costco supplier. In the video (below), narrated by Bob Barker, the veal crates you see are typical.

The calves are chained by their necks, just in case they try to move around their cramped two-foot wide stall, and forced to live their short lives stuck in their own waste, without the ability to lie down comfortably, run, bond with their mothers, see sunlight, or breathe fresh air. They're typically slaughtered and on their way to stores like Costco, Giant Eagle and other supermarkets by the time they're 20 weeks old.

Bob Barker sent a letter to Costco, saying: "As a civilized society, it's our moral obligation to prevent needless animal cruelty. Chaining baby calves in crates where they cannot even turn around is abusive and totally unacceptable."

Veal crates are opposed by the American Veterinary Medical Association and have been outlawed in the European Union, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine and Michigan. The Ohio Farm Bureau has agreed to ban veal crates by 2017 as part of an agreement brokered earlier this summer. The calves at Buckeye and other veal farms in Ohio shouldn't have to wait for when, or if, that happens.

Share this video, so people know the true cost of veal, and tell Costco to take veal off their shelves, and stop supporting cruelty.

Image/Video credit: Mercy for Animals

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.

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