Halacha and Philosophy: Animal Cruelty

In this teshuva, Rav Moshe Feinstein forbids the consumption of veal due to inhumane treatment of the calves who are raised so that their meat develops a "beautiful" white tinge. ( Eight month old cows are placed in tiny enclosures where thy have little or no room to move, and are force-fed a milk-formula based iron-free diet. This causes the calves to become anemic, and prone to catching various diseases.) One of the major reasons for Rav Feinstein's prohibition is that the object of this cruel process, the "white tinge" of the meat, does nothing to improve the quality or taste of the meat. (Personally, I do not eat veal, and until now, was unaware of this teshuva. My mother seems to think this is endlessly amusing, and once every few years when she makes veal, insists on referring to the dish only with sad high-pitched mooing sounds. However, it seems revenge is best served by Rav Moshe Feinstein....)

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/veal-byproduct-cruel-dairy-industry/

Apparently, it seems that as veal conditions have improved somewhat over the past ten years, Rabbi Dr. Tendler, who aided Rav Moshe when he was writing this psak, said if these changes were implemented on a kosher-industry-wide basis, the original ruling could be overturned. (Even if this is so, I shall probably still not eat veal, and my mother shall become even more insufferable. )

https://www.star-k.org/articles/news/3296/rabbi-dr-moshe-tendler-revisits-the-question-of-kosher-veal/

I looked up this claim about "humane veal," and there has been an upward trend in terms of more humane veal production. The article on the Kashrut industry was not very detailed, so I do not know how much any of these new developments apply to our situation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/dining/18veal.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/dining/veal-farmers-adopt-more-humane-methods.html

However-http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food/article/humane-veal

Rav Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, A VISION OF VEGETARIANISM AND PEACE

.....Surely it is appropriate to recognize that it is not a moral wrong to take wool from the sheep when the wool's owner, the sheep itself, would be relieved by its removal, or in any case, when to do so would neither distress it nor harm it. It is indecent, however, to take [the wool] for one's own benefit when the true, natural owners, the sheep themselves, are in need of it. So it is fitting to see this case, from the standpoint of "the intellectual prompting," as a perversion of justice which consists of a physical attack upon a weaker being. And the case is the same with the milk of the animal which is milked. It is appropriate, too, to make room [for the idea], which will emerge in its properly appointed time, that there is indeed a correlation between the taking of milk from an animal and the taking of its life and its flesh, namely, at a time and in a manner which causes it to suffer, when its own natural well-being and benefit, to which it is entitled, is denied to it....

Rabbi David Rosen."Is Any Meat Today Kosher." Times of Israel, March 16, 2017.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-any-meat-today-kosher/

....Some of the greatest halachic authorities of modern times such as Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Haim David Halevy, both of blessed memory, declared foie gras (goose liver produced by force feeding geese) and veal (the anemic flesh of a calf, denied light and movement) to be prohibited, as their production egregiously transgresses the Jewish prohibition of za’ar baalei hayim, causing cruelty to animals that is not essential for human consumption.

Now let’s leave alone for the moment the question of what is really necessary today for healthy living; these rabbis were simply stating the well-known fundamental Jewish teaching that prohibits the maltreatment of animals. However anyone familiar with the contemporary livestock trade will know that such animal maltreatment has become the norm.

Most cows for slaughter are kept and transported in severely restricted confines and their horns are cut or burnt off without any anesthetic to prevent them damaging one another in such confined areas. They are pumped with hormones and antibiotics that change their physiology and restrict their natural functioning.

One should also note that these hormones and antibiotics are retained in the flesh consumed by humans, with many negative consequences.

The situation is even worse for dairy cows. In order to induce maximal lactation which produces litres of milk for human consumption, calves are immediately taken away from their mothers (in direct contravention of the Biblical prohibition, Leviticus 22:27); and the hormones pumped into them enlarge their udders to such an extent that dairy cows are often incapable of walking.

An analysis by an American Orthodox halachic authority of the internal organs of dairy cow carcasses showed major organ distortions that would have rendered them treif, i.e. prohibited for Jewish consumption. This also has halachic ramifications regarding the milk of such treifcows.

Chickens in today’s factory farms grow three times as fast as they did fifty years ago as a result of selective breeding programs and the use of antibiotics. This leads to crippling bone disorders and spinal defects causing acute pain and difficulty in moving.

And as far as eggs are concerned – organic or otherwise – in order to guarantee maximal production, male chicks are killed after birth, thrown alive into grinders or suffocated in bags.

Enough of the horror stories! It should be evident to anyone with eyes in his or her head that virtually all animal products on the market today are the result of practices that categorically contravene Jewish law and ethics. And even if eating these products is considered a halachic obligation (which is not the case), under these conditions it would be a mitzvah habaah baveirah, the product of illegitimate means which disqualifies the ends.

It should be clear that the rationales of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Hayim David Halevi are not just relevant today to foie gras and veal, but apply across the livestock/animal food production industries....