Once again Chicago-based Mercy For Animals has shown eaters what they don't want to see. In this case the hapless calves torn from their mothers and chained by the neck known as "veal."
The group that exposed DeCoster egg farms years before the mainstream press, released undercover video last week from Buckeye Veal Farm in Apple Creek, Ohio. Narrated by Bob Barker of The Price is Right fame, it shows rows of gentle, newly born calves on spindly legs chained by the neck in 2-feet wide stalls until their date with the slaughterhouse comes. Some are covered with feces.
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/veal/
Buckeye Veal Farm sells its product to Atlantic Veal and Lamb of New York which is a supplier of Issaquah, WA-based Costco, the nation's third largest retailer.
Upon viewing the video, Costco officials condemned the farm conditions and said its new policy would require calves not be tethered and that their stalls be large enough to move around and lie down, reported Seattle Times. Since the video, the only three veal products offered on the Costco site are from Strauss Brands which advertises that calves are free to roam, "never tethered à ‚¬ ¨or raised in confinement" on its web site.
But Buckeye told the Associated Press that "Careful review of this video does not show any mistreatment of animals at Buckeye Veal," and that it was "in the process of being converted to group housing that does not use individual stalls."
And Atlantic Veal and Lamb said the video conditions are "acceptable practice" and on its web site, the most recent press releases discuss a new vice president of sales and marketing not animal cruelty.
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