I am writing in response to the article, "Animal rights groups plan 'meatout' events," March 17. The reason for this letter is to respond to Jessica Parry's comment that "[animals] are treated horribly, and their lives are miserable. People have no idea." I have an idea, and I'd like to share it.

My family has a dairy farm where we milk 150 cows. While I can't vouch for all farms, I know that most farmers take care of their cattle. And economically we have to; cows are our income source (quick analogy: imagine airlines not taking care of their planes).

First off, cows are housed in barns that use climate control strategies (which include ventilation, fans and misting systems in the summer, and blocking out cold air and wind in the winter) to help keep the ambient temperature as close to a cow's preferred temperature as possible. Cows are provided with padded mattresses to lie on. Cows have access to as much nutritionally balanced feed and water as they wish to consume. We scrape all of the manure out of the barn three times each day, which keeps the cows and their environment clean and dry; many farms do it more often. We milk our cows three times each day to limit the amount of milk in their udders. Cows have it better than some people do, and now people have an idea.