Animals on Factory Farms

Beef Cattle

Cattle raised for beef are the only farm animals still raised largely outdoors. Sometime between the ages of six months and one year, most beef cattle are sent to live their last few months in feedlots with hundreds or thousands of others. Without vegetated pasture and often without shelter, the cattle may suffer from digestive distress from being fed corn and other foods not natural to ruminants, as well as from heat stress, muddy conditions and respiratory issues from dust.

Routine practices that cause pain and distress for cattle include branding and castration. Beef cattle may also often endure several long transport events, which are stressful for animals and are inadequately regulated.

Quick Facts

• Studies show [PDF] that cattle are social animals with herd hierarchies and strong cow-calf bonds. They can also distinguish between individual humans—showing fear responses to those who have handled them roughly.
• To increase their weight, beef cattle in feedlots are fed a corn and soy diet that is very hard on their bodies and can cause illnesses, including ulcers.
• Virtually all beef cattle are “grass-fed” because they begin their lives on grass. “Grass-finished” distinguishes those cattle who spend their lives eating grasses and are never sent to a feedlot.

Progress for Beef Cattle

• Consumers are becoming savvy to misleading labels on beef. Learn more about what various claims and certifications mean with our Beef Label Guide.
• Some companies are developing policies and making commitments to address cattle welfare. Check out all of the companies that worked with the ASPCA to commit to higher welfare practices.
• Many companies have already adopted certification programs that ban feedlots or at least require improved feedlot conditions. Learn about welfare-certified and plant-based beef brands on our Shop With Your Heart brand list.

Dairy Cows

Most cows used for dairy production are kept indoors, with some having access to outdoor concrete or dirt paddocks. Many are tethered by chains or other materials around their necks in what are called “tie stalls.” Unnaturally high milk production can lead to mastitis, a painful bacterial infection of a cow’s udder. Dairy cows often have up to two-thirds of their tails and their horns removed without painkillers.

Just as with humans, cows only produce milk as a side effect of giving birth. To keep the milk flowing, dairy farms artificially inseminate cows once a year. Their gestation period lasts nine months, so the majority of most dairy cows’ lives are spent pregnant. When a calf is born, he or she is removed from the mother—generally that same day—to make the mother’s milk available for collection. This can be hugely traumatic to mother cows and to their calves. Male offspring are often raised for veal, while females become the next generation of dairy cows.

While large-scale dairy operations are typically separate from beef cattle operations, these industries are connected. Dairy cows usually end up at beef slaughterhouses when, at two to five years of age, their milk production has slowed or they are too crippled or ill to continue in the industry. At that point, they are slaughtered for beef.

Quick Facts

• Today’s dairy cows produce between 50 and 100 pounds of milk per day, which is 10 times more than cows living just a few decades ago. This is due to bovine growth hormones, unnatural diets and selective breeding for increased milk production.
• 75% of downed animals—animals who cannot stand and walk on their own—are dairy cows.
• About 9 million cows [PDF] are being used for milk production in the U.S. at any given time.

Progress for Dairy Cows

• Consumers are becoming savvy to misleading labels on dairy. Learn more about what various claims and certifications mean with our Dairy Label Guide.
• States including California, Ohio and Rhode Island have banned tail-docking of dairy cows, and we expect more to follow. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association of Bovine Practitioners both oppose tail-docking for lack of evidence that it provides benefits.
• Some companies are developing policies and making commitments to address dairy cow welfare. Check out all of the companies that worked with the ASPCA to commit to higher-welfare practices.
• Many companies have already adopted certification programs that ban tail-docking and tie stalls, require outdoor access, and provide guidance to reduce stress and pain from lameness and weaning. Learn about welfare-certified and plant-based dairy brands on our Shop With Your Heart brand list.

Veal Calves

Veal is the meat of young cattle who are usually born to dairy cows. As males, veal calves are of little use to the dairy industry, and as a dairy breed, they are inefficient beef-producers.

Traditional veal meat was made pale and tender by restricting calves’ diets and keeping them in stalls so small they could barely move. Increasingly, calves are housed in groups beginning at about six weeks old, but they still lack sufficient space, enrichment, outdoor exercise, solid food and the fulfillment of a basic instinct to suckle.

Quick Facts

• The veal industry would not exist without the dairy industry. On industrial farms, calves are generally taken from their dairy-cow mothers within a day of birth to be raised for meat.
• Veal calves’ diets and movements are tightly restricted to keep their muscles from developing, which makes the resulting meat tender. 

Progress for Veal Calves

• The use of veal crates has dramatically declined since the American Veterinary Medical Association said that calves should be able to turn around and the veal industry’s trade group recommended “that the entire veal industry convert to the group housing methodology.”