History
Behind Veal
Intensive veal crates were developed in the 1950's to cope with the dairy industry's
surplus of male dairy calves as they are not milk producers. Calves in solitary
were confined to wooden crates unable to turn around, groom themselves or adopt
a normal sleeping position.
Veal crates were designed to ensure that young calves were virtually unable to move, and were pumped full of liquid food. This meant that when the calves were slaughtered they hadn't developed any muscle and their flesh would be pale and supple.
UK Ban
The veal crate was banned in 1990 due to the immense cruelty involved, which
although a great victory didn't stop the cruel practice as farmers sent their
calves abroad to experience the same cruelty. This of course all had to stop
due to the BSE crisis in 1996.
SARC Investigates
At
the start of 2004 SARC received a tip off about an East Sussex cattle farm,
so we sent our investigation team off to find out more. They discovered that
calves actually were being kept in these banned veal crates - and the calves
had grown so big that they could hardly even fit in the crates.
SARC filmed the farm as evidence and immediately couriered the footage to the
RSPCA. DEFRA and Trading Standards.
The
photo (left) shows the calves being held in the illegal veal crates.
The
Outcome
The RSPCA took a visit to the farm themselves, but when they arrived the owner
was out. They spoke to his parents who were more than open in stating that the
unit in question was a veal shed. 
They
went on to explain that the calves had all been moved the day before the RSPCA
inspection... How convenient!
Following the check, as far as the RSPCA were concerned, because the cows were
not in the shed at the time of the inspection then the farm had basically gotten
away with it, despite our evidence and the farms own admissions.
Fortunately however, the farmer appears to have been given a scare from this
brush from the RSPCA and he has now stopped his veal production.
Since
this investigation, SARC has gone on to check other farms across the south.
We have found that on the majority of dairy farms
we have inspected, calves are being confined in small spaces, often in sheds,
and in solitary confinement. The images mirror the past horrors of the veal
industry.
Under the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2000 it is legal to house calves
like this up until eight weeks of ages.
It is a sorry sight to see young calves housed in such a way after being snatched
from their mothers at just 48 hours old. 6% don't even reach one month old.
They are kept like this for the first eight weeks of their life, a time when
they are full of energy and just want to socialise and play.
Even calves that are lucky enough to be housed outside with access to daylight, are still in solitary, still in an enclosed space and without their mothers.
What you can do
Every one of us can imagine the heart ache of being taken away from our mother at birth, and any parent can understand the pain of losing a child. This is happening every day on farms all over the UK. We couldn't give you a better reason to cut dairy out of your diet. Please visit our veggie page to discover all the wonderful alternatives to dairy.