Yvonne Taylor2013-05-23T09:25:00-04:00Yvonne Taylorhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=yvonne-taylorCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Yvonne TaylorGood old fashioned elbow grease.Cheltenham Festival: Racing to Their Deathstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.13458522012-03-14T19:00:00-04:002012-05-14T05:12:01-04:00Yvonne Taylorhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvonne-taylor/
Horses are raced too young, too often and on hard surfaces that practically guarantee breakdowns. Appallingly, an estimated 38% of those 400 horses die during or just after a race (the others die in the days and weeks that follow). Those who manage to survive often develop bleeding in the lungs and painful ulcers. They spend most of their time in cramped stalls, rarely knowing the pleasure of grazing in a meadow or frolicking in the sun just for the fun of it.
It is extremely common for drugs - both legal and illegal - to be used by trainers and veterinarians in response to injuries horses incur while running. Steroids are used to keep horses going. Lasix is a legal drug that stops internal bleeding in the lungs, while also masking the presence of other drugs in the horse's system. Bute is a painkiller which allows horses to run with minor injuries without taking into account that more serious injuries may result.
Jockeys vigorously opposed the few modest rules regarding whipping that have finally been put in place, yet horses can still be viciously whipped eight times during flat racing and nine times on the jumps. Even riders who exceed those abusive quotas aren't automatically held accountable. Stewards debate and decide whether or not to hold an inquiry. Fines and/or suspensions are not assured. But what is a given is that horses will still feel the sting of the whip and the throbbing welts that follow.
Nearly 20,000 horses are bred in Britain every year in the quest to produce 'winners', but not every horse will run fast enough to stay alive. Horses who do not 'make the grade' are not retired to grassy pastures. Thousands of horses - including spent thoroughbreds - are sold for slaughter every year. Some of their flesh is used in dog and cat food, while 'prime cuts' are sold for human consumption in Europe and Asia.
The Grand National would be more aptly named the Grand National Shame. Every year, horses sustain serious injuries, including fractured legs, heart failure and pulled tendons. Five horses died last year, and four others were fatally injured on the second day of the 2010 event alone.
Instead of condemning the carnage, television stations covering these races take unabashed glee in showing exhausted horses careening into each other and breaking down, over and over, often in slow-motion. But who with a shred of conscience enjoys watching the last moments of an exhausted and dying horse?
Forget the finish line - this deadly industry is all about the bottom line, and the horses are little more than disposable commodities to be dispatched behind the tarpaulin. People who want to pay tribute to all the horses who have suffered and died in racing should stay away from tracks and betting shops.]]>Crufts - A Parade of Genetic Freakstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.13235982012-03-06T19:00:00-05:002012-05-06T05:12:01-04:00Yvonne Taylorhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvonne-taylor/
Dogs don't care about winning trophies or titles, and yet they are the ones who pay the price for breeders' selfish and superficial pursuits. The Kennel Club's unnatural 'breed standards', which judges use to rate dogs at Crufts, encourage breeders to produce dogs with a certain 'look' - regardless of the damage done to the animal's health and temperament.
Hypothyroidism, epilepsy, cataracts, allergies, heart disease and hip dysplasia are just a few of the serious congenital defects that afflict roughly one in four pedigree dogs. A study published in The Veterinary Journal found that each of the 50 most popular breeds is at risk of some genetic defect which can cause suffering.
Until recently, breeders would shamelessly resort to canine incest in order to pass along traits.
Mother dogs were forced to have sex with their sons, fathers to impregnate their daughters and brothers to mate with sisters. Inbreeding is so rampant that all 10,000 pugs living in Britain descend from just 50 dogs. In addition to being inbred, pugs are so deformed from being bred for flat faces that activities like running, fetching a ball and even walking can leave them gasping for air.
Flat-faced English bulldogs, who also have difficulty breathing, have been so physically distorted by breeders that, ironically, they can't even mate or give birth without assistance from humans.
Virtually all Cavalier King Charles spaniels develop life-threatening heart murmurs - a fact I know only too well, having watched my own rescued Cavalier King Charles, Ben, suffer and die from this horrible condition. More than a third also suffer from an agonising condition called syringomyelia, caused by having been bred with skulls that are too small for their brains. Afflicted dogs often scream in agony, scratch themselves raw and become progressively weaker until they can barely walk, and they sometimes become paralysed.
Yet despite all this, the Kennel Club still hasn't taken meaningful action to remedy many of the serious health issues that plague pedigree dogs. It's time to make Crufts a thing of the past, just like the other shameful freak shows that we once saw as 'entertainment' in this country.
We can take the first step towards this by boycotting breeders and saving a life instead by adopting a healthy, happy dog or two from the local animal shelter.]]>Ethically Opposed to Veal? Then Dump Dairytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12986502012-02-24T19:00:00-05:002012-04-25T05:12:01-04:00Yvonne Taylorhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvonne-taylor/Rachel Wilson-Couch's piece about vegetarians who eat veal, I naturally assumed she was being alliteratively tongue-in-cheek. No one with a conscience would eat the bodies of calves who spend their short lives in misery. In fact, veal is often what prompts people to switch to a vegetarian diet. But Wilson-Couch is right to call the dairy industry - the reason why veal exists - into question.
Cows are individuals with distinct personalities. Some are bold and adventurous; others are shy and timid. Some are friendly and considerate; others are bossy and obstinate. Animal behaviourists have found that cows interact in socially complex ways, developing friendships over time and sometimes holding grudges against other cows who treat them badly. Cows have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to escape from abattoirs.
Cows are also protective and nurturing mothers. Yet in the dairy industry, whether she gives birth to a male or a female, the time a mother cow will get to bond with and care for her baby is measured in hours. Female calves, like their mothers, face a lifetime of forced pregnancies and babies lost to the milk industry, and males - referred to as 'by-products' - are either shot at birth or destined to become veal.
Make no mistake: both mother cows and their calves are emotionally traumatised as would be any parent and child when forcibly separated from one another. The mother cows bellow in desperation, and the calves wail inconsolably. They cry out for each other for days. Wide-eyed and terrified, the babies are desperate to suckle and will attempt to suckle people's fingers for comfort. What they get instead is a bottle of milk replacer.
Our most basic need as parents is to love, shelter, feed, nurture and protect our children from harm. And yet we ignore the very same innate need in animals. We are the only species to drink another species' milk and the only species to continue to consume milk beyond infancy. Human children have no nutritional requirement for cow's milk and grow up healthy and strong without it. Research suggests that cow's milk is linked to numerous common health problems (runny noses, allergies, ear infections, recurrent bronchitis, asthma, etc.) that often keep kids out of school and parents home from work.
There are really unpleasant and unhealthy substances in milk, including growth hormones, saturated fat and cholesterol. It's also acceptable under UK standards for milk to include pus. A safer and more natural choice for adults and children is to consume soya milk, almond milk or another plant-based alternative to cow's milk. Parents who want to keep their children healthy should look behind the dairy industry's well-financed marketing promotions.
World-renowned paediatrician Dr Benjamin Spock urged mothers to breastfeed. Dr Frank Oski, the former director of paediatrics at Johns Hopkins University in the US, said, "There's no reason to drink cow's milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, it was not designed for humans, and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon."
Milk and veal go hand in hand - one does not exist without the other. If the thought of animal suffering bothers you, remember: you don't have to support an industry that tears calves away from their mothers for milk or for veal.
Order your free vegan starter kit by visiting PETA.org.uk.]]>