ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state lawmaker is proposing a ban on tail-docking for cows after viewing a video showing a farm worker lopping off a calf’s tail and burning off its budding horns as the animal moans and struggles to escape.
The video was recorded at one of the state’s largest dairy farms in an undercover investigation by Chicago-based Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.
The video released Tuesday shows workers punching and kicking cows and dragging newborn calves from their mothers by one leg. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat, says it has prompted her to propose a tail-docking ban similar to one that recently took effect in California.
