I can’t be Wordless this Wednesday. But you can link up your Wordless Wednesday post below.
Why can’t I be wordless today?
There are animal abuse headlines today. The video is horrifying and makes me ill. I believe anyone who abuses animals should be punished by law. I am just as passionate about this being enforced as I am a passionate parent who wants all child abusers to be punished by law enforcement and our courts.
But…at the end of the horrifying animal abuse video the undercover vegan group asks you to go vegan to end animal abuse. Because I was raised around my grandpa and uncle’s cows and know so many farmers and ranchers who compassionately care for their cows at all hours of the day, everyday, I want to share a few photos of those farmers and their cows.
I don’t believe going vegan is the answer to end animal abuse. I believe zero tolerance for abusers needs to be enforced. Farmers and ranchers who care for their animals daily need to be recognized for their care in raising a safe and healthy food supply for our country and world and unfairly lumped together with an animal abuser.
Quite frankly, I don’t believe going vegan is the right choice but it is a choice. I love having personal choices and freedoms. I choose to trust and know where my food comes from as my personal family choice.
I have toured farms and ranches through my professional agriculture industry work along with having numerous personal friends that are farmers and ranchers across North America. My grandpa and uncle have raised beef cattle my entire life. I have never experienced or seen an abuse and only complete care for the animals. Because of my experience, I trust farmers and ranchers.
I want the same for my children. I want them to know how animals are cared for and to have the same trust.
Our son learned to bottle feed a calf before he was old enough to go to school. This winter, I shared with you bringing our young daughters into my uncle’s calving barn to show them new baby calves and how my uncle cared for them.
My uncle Jim cares for his cows and calves daily, around the clock. He cares for his cows just as much as he cares for his great niece, our Miss E that is he holding in the above picture.
I don’t know a farmer or rancher that doesn’t care for their livestock in the same passionate way my uncle does.
Whether it’s a California dairy farming family or a North Dakota beef rancher, I know I can trust farmers to care for their animals and land. When an animal abuse video is released like today, I am sickened but my faith in farmers is not weakened. I know farmers are raising safe and healthy food that helps feed my family. No animal abuse video can sway me from knowing farmers and ranchers are caring for their animals and land daily in the safest ways possible every day.
If you could ask a farmer one question…and there are no silly questions…what would it be?
Or if you are a farmer, what’s your most common misconception?
Link up and share your Wordless or Wordful Wednesday post today! I will visit each of your link ups and try to leave you a comment. If you are a new follower, please let me know in the comments. Also linking up today with Project Alicia, LiveandLoveOutLoud, Dagmar’s Momsense and more today.
Great article! We have the same problems over here in Europe and I totally agree with you.
I am a new follower and if you like, visit my blog – there is a translation button on the side bar in case you’d need it. Katja
Amen. While I also agree with you that vegan is not the answer to animal cruelty – we have a cousin who is going vegan yet she’ll eat beef from our dairy farm because she knows how we raise and treat our animals(it probably helps that we’re organic too). This, to me, is a much better compromise. I also just read a comment in a magazine suggesting that we farmers open our farms up to any and all visitors so that people can see for themselves how their meat/dairy/produce is raised and that farmers can be trusted. I think this would go farther than all the “certifications” out there (but I feel they’re still very necessary).
I saw Crystal Cattle had done a post on this too. I cannot watch the video. There are sick and cruel people in every profession. Just like child abusers and wife beaters, they pick on smaller, weaker, defenseless beings to make themselves feel powerful. They need to be held accountable for their cruelty and face serious charges/time.
Excellent post and great picts!
I think when you grow up on a farm, caring for your animals, raising some for future generations, some for food… you just have a different view of eating meat. It’s never bothered me at all to know that the beef on my table was raised on my Daddy’s farm. I know how he feeds them, cares for them and then takes them to slaughter, it’s a way of life. In fact I LOVE knowing that MY babies are getting the best.
I agree. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I absolutely agree with what you said. The biggest thing I want consumers to know is that I am more than willing to open my farm to you and show you how our animals are raised.
http://www.crystalcattle.com
I agree with everything you said. Just add my name to the bottom of your post! 😉
Great Post! Its too bad that the negative sometimes oversees all the positive out there! Love getting the positive voice out there!
Hmmmm…, Ii was going to link my post today to yours, but I don’t want non-ag readers get the wrong idea. Cows need to be dealt with firmly when you are handling them to keep everyone safe, both man and beast. My post today was about an uncooperative heifer. Let me know what you think. Bottom line is any self-respecting cattle man is going to treat his cattle well or there will be no profit in it. It does us no good to raise unhealthy, unfit livestock.
Katie, I clicked on the said video earlier today and could only stomach the first 2 seconds before turning it off. It’s just sickening. Anyone who treats animals in this way, should be prosecuted. We know many dairy farmers and cattle ranchers, none of which would ever treat their animals in the manner portrayed in the video.
Thank you for posting this.
My husband grew up on a dairy farm where they named their cows, and their herd was 200 strong. He still talks about how they each had distinctive personalities. I’m a city girl, and I too love animals. Animal abuse is wrong and should be prosecuted. But no good farmer abuses their animals. Good farmers know their animals are among their most valuable assets. And many even know them by name. Here’s to the good farmers out there and to telling their stories. Keep it up, Katie. So nice to meet you in-person and now online. I’m happy to report you’re on my radar now…