Re: Cows home to roost in Gordon Head (News, March 1)
Regarding the stand-off between the Alberg cattle-raising family and Saanich council plus neighbours, the whole thing could be settled by the SPCA moving in and removing the animals from this set-up.
These Angus cows’ “new home” is no pastoral meadow, but rather a muddy feedlot in which with no exercise or freedom of movement they will stand in excrement and ingest grains plus medications to which their digestive tracts are not fitted, so as to maximize their bulk and the volumes of meat or milk they will produce.
They will suffer indigestion throughout their short lives (their natural span would be 25-40 years) because nature designed their ruminant stomachs for processing grass, not corn and soymeal.
The SPCA promotes “five freedoms” for farm animals, namely freedom from hunger/thirst, disease, distress and discomfort, and freedom to “express behaviors that promote well-being.”
The Alberg farm does not fit the bill. Has this feedlot been inspected with human, environmental and animal health standards in mind?
Barbara Julian
Saanich