Lydia H.

Topic: Veganism

My eyelids slowly opened, and I see my ceiling. It has white chipped paint and looked like it was painted years ago, which it was. I rolled over, my eyes quickly widened, and a big smile appeared on my face. I almost forgot today would be my first day on my father's farm. I hurried out of bed and quickly put on my clothes. I was wearing a long black thermal top with carpenter jeans that were a little too long on my legs. I reached for my black felt cap and headed to get a quick breakfast. I chose a cup of milk and some bacon that my dad had made previously. I ate it quickly and went on my way to meet up with my dad.

I met him in front of where the dairy cows were kept and was quite excited. I had never actually gone into the farm because my dad had always told me I was too young. I never knew what he meant by “too young.” He hugged me and had a big smile on his face.

“Son, sometimes you may see things that you don’t want to see, but it’s business.”

“What would be things I wouldn’t want to see? It can’t be that bad, right?”

“Some people can’t handle it, but they are just animals, they can’t understand it.”

I didn’t answer and started walking to the door. My dad walked in front of me and opened the door slowly. Then he stopped and laughed because he forgot to tell me what I was going to do. He told me I would be helping a mother cow give birth to a baby. He never revealed the other thing we were going to do. If he did, I would’ve said no right then and there.

He proceeded to open the door. When we got in, it was kind of dark, and the walls looked dirty. They looked as if they hadn’t been washed in years. Then I took in a breath of air, and it smelled so gross. I almost gagged in my mouth. We started to walk to where I was supposed to have my first job, and as I was walking, I couldn’t help noticing that all the cows were hooked to machines, unable to move. I didn’t ask because I thought it was normal and nothing was wrong with it. I kept walking and was wondering why none of the cows had their babies with them. If they are dairy cows, shouldn’t they have babies? These thoughts raced through my mind but never seemed to get out then. When we finally got to where the mother cow was supposed to give birth, we were both happy to see that she already was finished and needed no help. My dad went next to it and told me to push the baby cow and lead it out of here and into the field.

“Why?”

“Because we need the baby to not be with his mother.”

“Why wouldn’t you want it to?”

“Because we need the mother’s milk, and if the calf stays, it’ll drink all of the product.”

I felt guilty about doing it, but did as my dad said. I pushed the cow in another direction, away from the mother, as my dad guided us into the field. We were greeted with a big truck that would take the calf away to a seperate farm called a veal farm, which means it would be used for meat. I carried the heavy calf, carefully trying not to hurt it, into the back of the truck. I hesitantly closed the back of the truck. Before the truck left, I asked Larry, the worker who transported some of the animals, if the mother would ever be able to see him again. He answered with a quick no. I tried to stall him by asking him questions, like where the calf would go, if he enjoys his job, things like that, so he would take a little longer. Alas, Larry drove away into the country to drop the calf off. To my surprise, the mother cow ran crying as her baby was being taken away, but the cow could run only so long until it was blocked by a fence. I watched in regret as the truck left. I watched it until it was no more than a speck in the distance.

What had I done? I had taken a young innocent baby from its mother. That milk I drank didn’t sound as good as it had before. My dad patted me on the shoulder and told me I did a good job. My dad told me to go home and rest, and I started to make my way towards my house. My thoughts took over, and I quickly started questioning myself. Would I have wanted that to happen to me? Is this all worth it, just for a cup of milk, or some cheese on my sandwich? Surely not. I thought about how I could help prevent this from going on, or at least make it happen less often.

After I got back from the farm, I told my father that I was too tired to work for the rest of the day. I searched to see if it was a normal thing to take away babies. That day on the farm, I learned, wasn’t even the beginning of what they did. I found out many things they do not only to cows, but to other animals. I learned that the first day male chicks are born, they are killed because they don’t lay eggs. Imagine being killed because you weren’t a girl! I searched ways to help decrease the suffering of animals, and I came across veganism. I began cutting out lots of things from my diet, like Doritos, cheese, meat, and poultry. I knew that if I were vegan, I would be helping not only the animals, but also myself. Till this day, I still wish I had saved that calf. Why didn’t I?