ニューヨーク・タイムズさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ニューヨーク・タイムズInstagram)「Is dairy farming cruel to cows?⁣ ⁣ To animal rights activists, dairy farmers are cogs in an inhumane industrial food production system that consigns the animals to a lifetime of misery. After years of successful campaigns that marshaled public opinion against other long-accepted farming practices, they have been taking sharp aim at the nation’s $620 billion dairy industry.⁣ ⁣ Some of their claims are beyond dispute: Dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated by artificial insemination and have their newborns taken away at birth. The typical dairy cow in the U.S. will spend its entire life inside a concrete-floored enclosure, and although they can live 20 years, most are sent to slaughter after 4 or 5 years when their milk production wanes.⁣ ⁣ Research by animal welfare scientists has led to a number of changes in the industry. Many large dairy farms have begun housing multiple cows together, abandoning the tradition of keeping solitary cows tied up inside barn stalls, and a number of studies over the past 2 decades found there was no hygienic benefit to removing a cow’s tail.⁣ ⁣ Facing a growing anti-dairy movement, many farmers are altering their practices.⁣ ⁣ Nathan Chittenden (second photo), a third-generation dairy farmer, raises 1,500 Jersey cows in upstate New York. Chittenden, whose family bottle-feeds each newborn calf, expresses affection for his animals. ⁣ ⁣ “I’m in charge of this entire life from cradle to grave, and it’s important for me to know this animal went through its life without suffering,” he said, stroking the head of one especially insistent cow. “I’m a bad person if I let it suffer.”⁣ ⁣ Chittenden said low prices, increasingly stringent environmental rules and heightened attention from animal rights groups had made the past 5 years especially stressful. He and other farmers say the allegations of widespread abuse from animal rights activists are exaggerated, contending that unhappy cows are poor milk producers.⁣ ⁣⁣ Tap the link in our bio to read more about how animal welfare scientists are studying cow behavior and how dairy farms are adapting. Photos by @lrnlncstr.」1月3日 2時37分