Proving Humane Certifications Meaningless

In case you weren't yet sure that "humane" certification attached to flesh, dairy, and eggs is meaningless, here is another example of why. Last week, the American Humane Certified program bestowed its label on Delimax, "one of the largest North American veal producers." Delimax has the honor of being the first Canadian company and first veal operation to be certified by the program--and of being the latest example of the absurdity of "humane" labeling.

Could we focus on what "veal" means? It means the flesh of a baby calf who received nutritionally deficient sustenance during his short life and who, whether he was confined in the traditional, usual way or allowed a bit more movement so that he could be sold as more expensive "humane" rose or pink veal, was still torn, forcibly and traumatically, from his mother; still denied the milk meant for and needed by him; still restricted in movement so that his muscles would remain weak--because humans have a fondness for the taste and texture of weak baby calves; and still taken (and often dragged because he never learned to walk, and his muscles are intentionally atrophied) to brutal slaughter. (For the record, Delimax--now certified and praised by American Humane--uses the traditional method of veal production, forcing calves to live out their lives in a tiny crate.)

Think of it in these terms: remove a human baby from his mother when he's 2 days old; deny him motherly nurturing and ignore his desperate attempts to find it; feed him an intentionally substandard formula because too many necessary nutrients would make him too healthy and strong; and keep him in a tiny crib barely bigger than his body for the next year, discouraging play or exercise or physical development. Then kill him, while his flesh still has that nice baby feel. Meanwhile, force his grieving mother to use a pump, and sell her milk for a premium. It's a horrible thought, isn't it?

This weekend, I listened to someone who doesn't even believe in animal rights (he supports animal welfare efforts instead) and who does not even advocate vegetarianism tell a group that they should never, under any circumstances, eat veal, that there is simply no way to make veal humane. He called on his audience not to contribute in any way to the veal industry. (And remember, this is even someone who doesn't support the philosophy of animal rights.)

I pointed out after he'd finished, however, that you can't stop your support of the veal industry without stopping your support of the dairy industry. The two are inextricably intertwined. For as long as you are consuming dairy, newborn calves are being torn away from their mothers shortly after birth, both of them crying out for each other. For as long as you are consuming dairy, you are contributing to dairy cows' constant grief (this is certainly not the only way in which dairy cows suffer, but we'll keep this post more narrowly focused) and to the practice of intentionally keeping calves unhealthy so that they can be brutally slaughtered and their bodies chopped up and served as a specialty.

There's nothing humane about anything in the veal industry, and when certification programs call any veal company "humane," that tells you all you need to know about their standards. And all the certification programs do have standards for "humane" veal, even those programs that are supposedly more stringent and that are endorsed and promoted by well-known organizations (and doing the industry the favor of calling veal "young dairy beef" is just another absurdity; avoidance of the word "veal" just serves the purpose of making the certification program look more humane and legitimate at the same time that it helps an industry to promote veal--and helps consumers to consume veal--without having to actually call it veal and take on the guilt the word brings).

So maybe buying animal products with the label "humane" makes people feel less guilty, and maybe the extra cost feels like some kind of penance, but remember that only two entities are really benefiting from this purchase--the company & industry selling the product and the consumer's guilty conscience. The animal is just certified dead.

Read more:

Happy Cows: Behind the Myth
TryVeg.com