Sir, - So far this year more than 18,000 tiny calves only two to three weeks old have been killed in the slyly-named Calf Processing Aid Scheme. Do officials at the Department of Agriculture actually think that this morally bankrupt plan is "acceptable" because it keeps beef prices at artificially high levels?
Stories are now emerging that some to these calves are being starved before they are killed, that farmers and middlemen buying up calves and trucking them to slaughter justify this cruelty by saying the calves are going to die anyway, so why waste money on food for them? It's disgusting.
Killing infant animals does not sit well with good farmers and vets. Giving about £100 per calf to those inhumane enough to avail of this scheme is perpetrating cruelty as it is impossible to monitor the treatment of all calves on farms, in transit, with dealers, and at the slaughterhouse.
The shameful scheme must be stopped immediately. Responsible ways of managing the beef industry must be found. Male dairy calves could be raised for meat. Beef cattle should not be bred if there is a surplus (live export is not a humane option).
The Government must not agree to cruel ideas dreamt up in Brussels. A country's civilisation can by judged by how it treats its animals. Allowing this scheme speaks volumes.- Yours, etc.,
Killiney, Co Dublin.