DEHORNING CATTLE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 34, 3 November 1934, Page 12

DEHORNING CATTLE

“Comparable With Sawing Through Finger-nail” ROYAL S.P.C.A. OPINION The dehorning of cattle, a question of sonic moment at the present in view Of the recent deputation to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. C. E. Macmillan, by the Federated Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is referred to in a letter recently received by the Rev. Clyde Carr. M.P., from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, London. The'secretary of the Royal Society, Captain. F. MacCann, says that in England dehorning is illegal if the animal is over one month old, unless the operation is performed under complete anaesthesia. He continues “A veterinary expert’s opinion is: ‘Dishorning adult cattle is probably the most painful operation one can perform ou an animal, and the pain does not cease at the termination of the operation. Drastic measures have to be taken to prevent or check haemorrhage, and the base is left tender and highly sensitive for a week or two. Every touch or knock causes pain, and very acute pain. In consequence of the continual pain the operation should never be performed unless circumstances render it a necessary surgical operation for the relief of the animal and then under an anaesthetic, with a daily treatment afterward to relieve pain.’ ” • “I may say,” states Captain MacCann, “that.this society cannot believe' that the legislature in New Zealand would wish to pass legislation that would impose the severe suffering dishorning of full-grown .cattle entails, when it is quite simple to dehorn animals when calves. Most Painful Operation. “It is sometimes contended that dishorned cattle are normal within 24 hours of the dishorning. We cannot agree that this is the case, but possibly on account of the animals feeding in quite a normal way it is maintained that the pain is not felt after the lapse of that period. “I would point out that the fact that an animal feeds is no proof that it'is not suffering. For instance, we know from the late war that horses mortally wounded on the battlefield would crop grass, although they died within the space of a few hours. There is no doubt that animals do this in order to relieve their sufferings, and I think that the argument about normality occurring within 24 hours is based on the assumption that as the animals feed they must be’without pain.” . ! In a further opinion Lieutenant-Col-onel P. J. Simpson, D. 5.0., who hist year was president of the National Vet-, erinary Medical Association of Great Britain, said: — “If one wishes to convey to the lay mind the amount of pain inflicted, one can compare it to sawing through the nail and quick of the human finger. This.description is, I think, a faithful one, more especially in the case of older animals, and one must add the pain inflicted in sawing through the bony core. My personal opinion, .is that it is one of the most painful surgical Interferences that can be done without the use of a general anaesthetic.”