By Jerrid Cunningham
Animal cruelty is a very touchy subject for everyone. Different people have different outlooks on what animal cruelty is. Animal cruelty stated Gaynor Borade, “the subsequent standard of infliction that causes animals distress is unwarranted.”
I believe that animals should be provided for, when it comes to food, water, shelter, and attention medically if need be. I have worked with large animals, most of my life. I understand that horses, cattle, and other livestock can be very temperamental. For the past two years, I have been working with bulls, and I have seen a lot of things that have really opened my eyes to animal cruelty.
When I began at my place of work, I started to notice some things about how the animals were being treated. Many of the bulls that are stationed at the facility are worth a lot of money to the owner, and the business I work for. The animals that I work with are normally owned by other people that bring the animal in and leave it for a period of time to be taken care of. These farmers are putting their trust in the facility to take care of their bull. While working, I have seen the animals treated well, but I have also seen the animals treated very cruel.
In my line of work, we collect semen from bulls. As the workers, we are to bring a bull from its pen to the collection room. Moving a large animal, such as a bull can be difficult sometimes by yourself. We are given a herding stick, that is about four feet long to help move the bull so that we are not taking risks of getting too close and getting hurt. Moving a bull from barn to barn isn’t a hard thing to do, when the bull is cooperating with the person that is handling the animal. The problem comes, when the bull begins to be stubborn (charging someone, or trying to gore the person, etc.) at this point I believe that the bull should be dealt with in a manner that is civil but forceful to show the animal that you are dominant. What I have seen, is not civil treatment to these animals. There are bulls at the facility, that have challenges with walking from barn to barn due to medical problems (foot problems, old age, former broken bones, etc.) that workers have beaten (leaving whelps, or even cutting the skin) because the animal does not walk fast, or at the speed that the person wants them to. I do not agree with beating an animal, if the animal has not done anything to be punished for.
Other acts of cruelty I have witnessed are beating dogs. The dogs are used for work purposes; they are for bringing up steers, or helping out with a Holstein bull that decides he is going to plow a person into the ground. The two dogs have been beaten with sticks, hot-shots, kicked for running off, and even thrown into the side of vehicles. I witnessed one dog thrown through the air, kicked, shocked by a hot shot, then picked up by the collar and slammed into the side of a truck door. All of this was done because the dog wondered off of the property for an hour or so.
I have witnessed workers taking sticks and jabbing the end of the stick into the eyes of bulls, because the person thought it would be fun to do. I do not agree, nor will I put up with these kinds of actions done to animals for the entertainment of a bored teenager. I do not believe in animal cruelty, I love animals, and respect them. I do believe that if an animal such as a bull or a dog is harming a person, then the animal should be taken care of with all necessary means. No animal deserves to be treated cruel for no reason, or for the entertainment of a person.
It is stated on the company website, that the facility is designed for the best care of your bull. The pens have natural flooring, outside runs and good handling facilities. A well stocked lab and a professional staff help to provide a high quality, high conception product. Most of the staff are qualified for handling animals, but to say that they are all professional, would be a lie. If the statement is saying that the facility is best designed for the “Best” care for your bull, then why as a worker there do I feel that these animals are being treated very poor? Why are these animals being beaten for not moving fast enough? Why are the animals being stuck in the eye with pointed objects? Why are the dogs being thrown into the sides of vehicles? I do not believe that is the best treatment for the animals.
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