Animal Farming Ads with VEGAN commentary

I live in rural animal farming country. Yes, an unwavering vegan of nearly 36 years is receiving animal-farming magazines in her mailbox. Some quotes straight from farmer's advertisements: 

First page, the ad reads: "the stress of calving season"....how stressful it is on the human, that is. This is ironic, of course, because it is horrifically stressful for the abused cows exploited for dairy and their calves - far more than the human. These adverts clearly show that our species is humancentric; pointing out the stress on the exploiters; not the innocent victims.  

I continue to the next page to see all the gadgets they have for sale like a new eco milk bar, a black calf teat, and a milk bar pen - devices to feed fake formulations to calves. Calves are taken from their mother and their rightful milk supply - and the calve's milk is given to humans instead. This is an obvious injustice. Humans should be weaned and not drinking cow's breast milk; but human breast milk. They use terms like "calving" for giving birth to a calf. They use the term "stock" for living breathing sentient animals - as if they are goods you buy off a shelf, a thing, not an animal with consciousness and awareness. No animal should ever be considered "stock". This is a word that will be obliterated from language at some time in the future. In an ad for selling this "milk bar teat" contraption, they describe it as "a lot easier for feeding". Hmmm. I'm pretty sure the calf would find his/her mother's teat to be much easier and the way it was meant to be.

Moving on to the next page, they are trying to sell 'Captive Bolts'. The ad's caption reads: "The humane destruction of livestock is an unpleasant, but necessary fact of farming life. Whatever the reason for destroying an animal, the process should always be carried out in a humane and effective manner." Truth in advertising - the killing and abuse is not necessary - we humans can live vegan, and I'm living proof of that of course. Secondly, they use the term "destroy". Would you say a human being was destroyed? No, but you could say the car was destroyed. Destroyed is describing an object - not a sentient being. In order to kill fellow sentient animals, society has turned them into "things....things that can be destroyed". 

Now here's an interesting quote from the same page: "Using a Captive Bolt device is one way of ensuring a humane death is achieved and, while the device requires no license to operate, owners should be aware they can be dangerous tool in the wrong hands and safety must be a priority when using and storing them." Hmmm No license is necessary! Oh, and by the way, in reality, captive bolt devices are dangerous in anyone's hands if you see it through the eyes of the victims. 

Another quote from this page: "Several different strength activators are available for use with your Captive Bolt and users should ensure the correct change is used for the varying classes of stock to be euthanized - failure to do so could result in an ineffective kill." They incorrectly use the term 'euthanasia'.  Euthanizing is mercy killing; what they are doing is murder. Like many salespersons, animal exploiters use deceitful terms to make sales. 

The next page they are trying to sell "cleaners, disinfectants, and teat sprays, right through to mastitis management" because obviously mastitis; a painful infection often contracted by these poor exploited cows - is commonplace. Quote: "..attention to mastitis prevention is critical for a smooth calving season by minimising time spent treating mastitis and the long milking that the treatment causes." It's all about the human, once again. Not about the severe pain of this disease to the cows, but about the extra time for farmers and the possible loss of their profit, as mastitis is potentially fatal.  They say looking for and treating mastitis is "a big job" - it's obviously very prevalent. 

The ads are trying to sell farmers a gadget that monitors the performance of cows exploited for dairy. "This provides valuable insights into individual animal production, highlighting variances from a cow's normal position to signal early changes in her state." Sentient individuals enslaved in the farming system are literally monitored as to their profitability to the farmers; all they are is a money-making machine. Humans unjustly objectify other animals in order to force breeding and pregnancy on them, exploit their reproductive system and then kill them when they are not profitable enough to the farmer; and they now have machinery that detects which animals will cost them money or profit loss. 

Next page, the headline reads: "You cannot underestimate the role of good farm infrastructure in attracting and retaining staff and making farming a truly enjoyable experience." How is it possible that the minds of humanity accept this objectifying, raping, exploiting, and killing and then have the indecency to advertise it as "A Truly Enjoyable Experience"? Getting pleasure out of another's pain is a misguided thought pattern that we were all handed by society, but should not accept as Truth. 

Next quote from magazine: "The dairy market is steady. Auctions are going really well with strong buying for top end cows although herd sales have slowed due to 'on farm auctions' but are still selling for $1700-$2000 per head." There is no difference between a cow, a dog, a pig, or a human - when it comes to the right not to be a victim of slavery and exploitation. I live in a culture where seemingly polite people are quite literally violent animal abusers. They torture and kill their exploited animals, the "pests" that threaten their livelihood (even though there is no greater pest to this planet than humans), and they exploit dogs to help them herd animals. Where I live, I see dogs all the time thought of as a commodity; a farm dog, a "working dog".

Next page they are trying to sell you "Chunky Dog Roll" for "working dogs": "I've been a convert to Chunky dog roll for some time now. It suits my dogs down to the ground - they love it. It's also a labour saving product for me, which is particularly cost-effective and the dogs do well on it. Coming home after a busy day and having to kill an old ram or five is a time consuming drag, plus the old rams are worth quite a lot more now than they used to be so it's not a cost effective way to do it. ....Chunky is an easy choice that I know is good for them. When they're working hard they get a three split roll, then four or five split when they are working lightly or on vacation."

To prove these dogs are seen and treated as working dogs (another one of the many ways humans exploit animals) the ad says this: "There are around 35 working dogs fed Chunky - it helps them hold condition and I only supplement with a few bics when they're working really hard, and for variety." Then I turn the page to an advert from Purina Tux brand: "TUX Energy 20% protein and 18% fat) is recommended for hard working dogs with high energy needs, such as hard working beef and sheep farm dogs, pig hunting, service and pest control dogs. TUX Country is recommended for dogs with moderate energy needs - such as dairy farm dogs, rural pet dogs, and retired working dogs." They are not "farm dogs", "pig hunting dogs", "dairy cows"...these are the slave names humans give them. They are dogs exploited for herding and hunting other animals. They are cows exploited for dairy. And this is the animal-exploiting mentality I am surrounded by; where I get this sort of adverts in my mailbox.

We have to start standing up to this age-old socially accepted wrong of using other animals for human convenience. Perhaps humans could not live vegan in the past, but we can now. Just because something "has always been done" does not mean we should continue doing it. It's time humanity turns away from animal farming and all intentional harming of anyone feeling and conscious.