Imagine if you will, a young cow in season. Her head is locked in a cage-like device in order to keep her immobile. Her eyes are huge with terror. Her breathing loud and fast with sharp gasps for air, her legs are broken and she is trembling with exhaustion. Her heart rate double fast and she is braying loudly in fear and pain. She has been in a pen getting mounted by six bulls for 24 hours. The reason? It is not for breeding. The researchers are studying the bull’s sexual libido; a task normally done by putting one bull in with a cow for 15 minutes. She died from this needless experiment.
The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center is a facility in Nebraska where research is done on eatable farm animals. It is complying with a policy that costs taxpayers roughly $22 million a year. The research is aimed at producing more edible meat at a reduced cost. The research is done on pigs, cows and lambs. The MARC program includes research on genetics and breeding, reproduction, nutrition, meats science, production systems, biological engineering, and animal health. In a perfect world there would be enough high quality meat for those who want to eat it, at prices they could afford. Originally, MARC was created to assist meat production, but MARC has not produced high quality meat. They have only succeeded in proving that nature cannot be safely altered. The cost of their research to the animals they torture, kill and neglect is too high. The meat that is produced is genetically altered and unsafe to eat. We need to stop buying meat from companies that produce meat using MARC methods of production.
Regardless of MARC’s original intent, the sad truth is that the animals on the Nebraska farm are far from being healthy. The animals are being genetically tampered with in many ways. One way is to have abnormally large litters. This often results in the deaths of both mothers and offspring. The young are genetically altered to grow to adult size in breathtaking speed. This kind of meat is unhealthy to eat because it is unnatural. Cows, who normally birth one calf at a time are genetically altered to have twins or triplets. Offspring from these litters are often weak, sick and deformed. The mothers often die from the multiple births. Sows are stuck in small cages where they have huge litters, twice the usual of eight piglets. Many piglets die from being smashed by their mother as she moves around in her small pen.
Sheep get the worst care of all. Sheep are not independent and need to be cared for. They need human intervention, especially in birthing. The MARC goal is to have sheep that care for themselves. This program, called “easy care” is aimed to reduce the cost of taking care of sheep. As a result, many sheep and newborn lambs are dying due to exposure to severe weather conditions, predators and starvation. MARC has been trying to “educate” these sheep for 10 years. It is not working, yet this program is slated to continue four more years.
No more animals should ever die from terror and abuse in a government research center. These farm animals are not pets but we are responsible for their protection and care. Treating animals this way is immoral and eating them is dangerous. Since MARC is already established and our tax dollars are already slated to support it, public pressure will be the only way to stop this insanity. Raising awareness is the first step in stopping MARC. Researching meat companies and livestock raising methods is one way to know which meat to buy in order not to support companies that rely on MARC research methods. The next step is to stop buying these products in the supermarket. Voting with your wallet insures the fastest and strongest result to ultimately stopping our taxes from paying into this farm. Appealing to your local congressman is another good way to protect these animals. Congress created MARC 50 years ago. It is the pocket book of meat growers that is the current beneficiary of all this “research.” Aside from protecting defenseless animals, we should not be spending $22 million dollars a year on research that obviously is not working. Fifty years is long enough to have learned whatever we needed to know. Anymore now is just wrong.
April Riseley