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Can You Potty Train a Cow?
sciencehabit writes "Think potty training a child is hard? Try teaching a cow when and where to do its business. The bovines can defecate nine to 16 times daily, creating big hygiene problems on dairy and beef farms. So cueing the animals to go in the right place would be a big help for managing manure. But past techniques—including training cows to respond to mild electric shocks—have proven ineffective or impractical for wide use. To see if they could come up with a better potty prompt, scientists tested a series of stimuli on a dozen Holstein cows. The milkers stood in or walked through a footbath filled with water, for example, or had air or water sprayed on their feet. Alas, '[n]one of our tests reliably stimulated defecation,' the team reports."
That would be slightly disgusting, but hey, if screwing with meat floats your boat....
Personally I don't mind animals suffering for my pleasure - in fact, looking at my gadgets and my way of living, I'd go as far as apparently, I don't mind humans suffering for my pleasure. I wear clothes produced by cheap labor in India, I use computers produced by cheap labor in China, I eat meat produced under horrible conditions; however, it does make my life pretty nice.
There is an old saying: two wrongs don't make a right.
We are conscious of our actions and can therefore exercise control over what we choose to consume. Food is one of our most basic requirements for survival but meat is a luxury, and demonstrably not necessary to function in society. Choosing a vegetarian lifestyle will help put an end to the needless suffering of animals, and is a "good" choice for many other reasons including sustainability and the environment.
Peace,
Andy.