Torn from his mother at a day or two old, this fragile dairy calf faces a terrifying journey to the Continent to be imprisoned in a veal crate. This is the price of a pinta!

Condemned to a crate

Cows produce milk for one reason only – to feed their young. No babies, no milk!

For dairy cows, the wonder of birth is short lived. After a day or two, their babies are cruelly torn from them.

Female calves become milk machines like their mothers, suffering chronic lameness, painful udder infections and constant hunger.

Unwanted male calves may endure lorry journeys of 36 hours – bewildered, overcrowded and exposed to the elements.

Their destination? Veal farms in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

These uncomprehending and fragile babies spend the first eight weeks imprisoned in solitary confinement.They are then group-housed indoors, on uncomfortable slatted floors, often with no access to bedding or roughage

Most British dairy farmers send their calves to foreign veal crates

These poor creatures are then slaughtered at just four or five months old, many will be weak and unable to walk.

It is a dreadful total – as many as 500,000 calves a year. Their birth has no meaning other than to keep their mother’s milk flowing. Simply by switching to soya milk, you can end this shameful suffering. Stop the cruelty - Go vegan!

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