Cow tails in Colorado

[Hum]

Colorado farmers are in udder disbelief.

The state?s legislators are considering a new law that would ban farmers from taking away natural fly swatters from their dairy cows. Some want to ban dairy operations from carrying out a process called docking -- cutting cattle tails for sanitary reasons.

Critics call it animal cruelty. Farmers say it produces more sanitary milk by keeping the tail from dragging in mud and manure.

Not only that, but many farmers complain that the practice is rare in their state, so what?s the big deal? They also don?t want what they consider unwanted government intrusion on their farms.

"We're starting to be made criminals on our own farms," farmer Chris Kraft, who does not tail dock his herd, told the Associated Press. "It's just outrageous."

The Colorado Farm Bureau also thinks legislators should mind their own business.

?At the farm bureau, we don?t endorse the practice, but we don?t think any ban should be set in stone by way of a law,? Brent Boydston, the bureau?s vice president for public policy, told the Los Angeles Times. ?Once a ban is law, it takes away flexibility and innovation. Let the farmers and ranchers manage their livestock as they see fit.?

Most farmers dock their cows with a tight rubber ring that after several weeks cuts off circulation, causing as much as two-thirds of the tail to just fall off.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Lebsock, a Democrat from the Denver suburb of Thornton, would ban tail docking except when performed by a veterinarian and when using anesthesia.

But research has found tail docking doesn't make milk or workers safer, and the practice has been denounced by the National Milk Producers Federation, the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, among others. They argue tail docking is painful and unnecessary.

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[Original Poster]

there is no reason to take away a tail of an animal, unless you can prove a tail biting likely hood within a certain gene pool (used to do this all the time on a farm with pigs) .... if hygiene is a concern then you are not looking after your animals well enough in the first place... cows should be allowed their tails...docking tails is something lazy farmers do....I think laws should be inplace (like here in england) ... but with proper ruling from a trusted vet can confirm the need to tail dock within herds (all herds )

cannot wait untill i am done with uni...get back to working on the land for a lil while <3

[Hum]

Animal cruelty is not cool.