Raising veal is not reallly like that by Peter Sinnott Special to The Review It is with dismay, I find yet another article on animal rights, filled with misleading information and totally false facts. Even more upsetting is the fact that someone from the SPCA would abuse the power that their position gives them, by verifying these imrespons- ible, blanket statements when they themselves don’t know what they are talking about, (Animal Rights, Section B, Feb. 20). As J am a herdsman on a large dairy farm who has in the past raised veal as a side-line, it is the remarks about these operations that I will address. In 20 years of farming I have only once seen a veal operation where the calves were confined to crates from start to finish. The reason calves were fed an iron short diet and kept under less than bright lighting was to keep the meat “white. This type of operation may have been common in Europe years ago but if it is common now, there must be a huge and very success- ful cover-up to keep them so well hidden. The fact that this is not widely, if at all, practiced anymore has less to do with animal activists than the fact that there is no money in trying to grow calves in anything but optimum conditions, nor is there any sized market for “white veal.” In spite of what Judy Smith of the Citizens for the Ethical Treat- ment of Animals says, typically bull calves are raised in exactly the same manner as heifer calves for the first two to three months of their four to six month lives. That is they are confined to an individ- ual pen of about 20 square feet and fed milk and a high protein grain. As soon as they are eating sufficient grain to support growth they are weaned, normally between five and twelve weeks old. How the bull calves are fed from here will depend on available feed. If we keep them at the dairy farm that I work on, I have a plentiful supply of cheap milk and the bull calves get as much of this as they will take. They are bedded’ on straw to provide roughage and kept in group pens of three to four. If they are crowded their bed- ding gets wet and they get sick and I have to medicate them and feed them for a longer period of time to make the weight. Not very smart for someone with such an invest- ment of time and money. The bull calves I used to take off the farm to raise would be weaned as soon as they were eating enough grain as I would not have that cheap source of milk. Once weaned they would be put in groups of eight to 20, depending on the barn they were in, and fed a high energy grain ration ad libitum and a small amount of hay to aid digestion. All the people I know who raise veal do it in a similar way to the one I have just described. The reason they are confined to indi- vidual pens until weaned, is that this is the healthiest for the calf. One of the latest innovations in calf care is the introduction of “hutches.” These are individual mini-barns that guarantee a no- draught environment free from the bugs of other calves. I have seen “news” programs referring to these in negative terms by reporters who wouldn’t know 1 - SEEKING OUT A teammate to pass the ball fo is Central Saanich wheelchair athlete Shaun Kennett, 15, who helped his Zone 6 team the Victoria Bulldogs battle to a bronze medal finish at the B.C. Winter Games in Duncan, Sunday. an Angus from an Arbutus when the fact is that many large herds plagued by viral pneumonias and digestive disorders have had signi- ficant reductions in these health problems thanks to the very things the activist would condemn as cruel. There are things that need fixing in the agricultural industry just as there is in just about anything you could care to mention, but people like John Robbins shouldn’t go unanswered. Just because someone has writ- ten something in a book doesn’t make it so. Just because k.d. lang can hold a tune better than most doesn’t make her right. Agriculture is an extremely complex business and it is much more difficult to explain the truth to a population getting further and further away from the sometimes harsh reality of nature, than it is to promote the fallacies that these people do. The future of farming depends on the preservation of land and this, in my opinion, is best accom- plished by mixed farming i.e. grassland, animals, and crops, not the monoculture-type farming that vegetarianism would dictate. At a recent grassland seminar in Nanaimo one of the speakers owned one of the biggest dairy herds in Washington state. The land he now farms was losing as much as 90 tons of soil per acre before he moved there and put the fragile ground to pasture where before there was corn a decade ago. Under good grassland manage- ment the farm now supports ten families, before it had a hard time supporting two. It also requires virtually no insecticides or herbic- ides unlike when it was under crops. The organic matter of the soil continues to improve with the addition of manure. I realize that some people will never be persuaded, regardless of the facts, but I do hope you'll give the Jess sensational truth as much credence as the extremists’ point of view. Peter Sinnot is a Peninsula far- mer who works with a West Saanich Road dairy operation. EE LN ee ee: ANNOUNCEMENT NRS Peninsula Properties Ltd. is pleased to announce the return of DEBORAH GRAY aiter a very brief abs- ence. Deborah has been with NRS Peninsula Proper- ties Ltd since the company began operation in 1988 and has been instrumental in making NRS Peninsula Properties the leading Real Estate Company on the Saa- nich Peninsula. Deborah ts very active on the Saanich Peninsula. We all welcome Deborah back and look for- ward to her continued suc- cess at NRS Peninsula Prop- erties. Deborah invites your calls at 652-5171 for all your real estate needs. Se TheReview WITH CONCENTRATION WRITTEN all over her face, Brentwood fable tennis player Della Garvin bats the ball back over the net with lightening speed and amazing accuracy. Her talents earned her two bronze medals at the B.C. Winter Games, Sunday. Tires slashed as cars trashed Tires were slashed, windshicid wipers ripped off, roof tops stabbed and side panels scraped as 13 vehicles were vandalized in the parking lot and roadway of 2266- Harbour Road during the early afternoon Feb. 3, Sidney RCMP said. Police esumated total damage to exceed $5,000 and ask those with information to call CrimeS toppers or Sidney RCMP at 656-3931. Wednesday, February 27,1991 — A38 DEBORAH GRAY Product knowledge is achieved through hard work and experience. Buying or sel- and patience. With my sup- port and guidance [ can make this an enjoyable experience for you. Call DEBORAH GRAY NRS PENINSULA PROP. 652-5171 ling real estate requires skill’ NOT FRIED! NOT BREADED! NO FATTY SKIN! COLESTEROL REDUCED! THE HEALTHY CHOICE IS HERE SIDNEY DQ 2323 Bevan Ave. 656-3339 Children's Miracle Network Telethon. The Sidney Dairy Queen is a participating sponsor of the British Columbia Children's Hospital th We Treat You Right® ru the