Beef cattle - who's in your burger?
There are two types of commercially reared cattle – dairy and beef. The dairy industry is concerned with producing milk. Beef animals are bred to be turned into burgers, steaks and other meat products.
You might believe that cattle have a nice, happy life out in the fields, but over the winter months they are kept in dismal sheds, standing in their own excrement and urine. Nearly all animals show signs of foot injury caused by standing on concrete floors. Cattle are often de-horned – a painful procedure – to prevent them from injuring each other in the confined, stressful conditions of the sheds and during transport. Male beef calves are often painfully castrated by fitting a tight rubber ring over their testes. Typically killed when still less than a year old, they are destined to end up as meat for burgers and other beef products.
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Want to know more?
- Read The Suffering of Farmed Cattle section on the adult site
