Around 70 per cent of Swedish reindeer slaughtered are calves, which means they die without seeing snow, claims the animal welfare group Viva!. Read more here.
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About Me
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
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What a total piece of crap by the Independent and VIVA!! The reindeers live the best life of all animals on the planet , though the long transports might be a problem , this is due to EU regulations , that animals can’t get farm slaughtered , which is bad!
Here’s my pieces of reindeers :
http://annimal.bloggsida.se/diverse/803
Ann, you are so correct obout the good life of rangeland domestic animals. They are protected from predators, have their health looked after, and their young have a very high survival rate. This means that most are killed young – they have to be to control herd size – leaving only the best to sustainably reproduce. You are also correct about long distance transport stressing them. Similar farm kill regulations in Australia.
Helen,
Unfortunately the dreaded economics of scale comes into it.
While a meat inspector could attend anywhere there is an abattoir, the meat still would have to be transported. Also building suitable facilities is not always an option, even for large enterprises.
And like it or not, the animals walking on to trucks is a lot cheaper than being carried on.
I wish it would not be so, but it is.