A Penn State study on the dehorning of calves has proven controversial among animal activists since Aug. 10, when it was written about in a national dairy farmer's magazine.
The experiment tested a group of calves that were dehorned after being given a combination of sedatives and anesthetics, said Mary Kennett, director of the Penn State Animal Resource Program and professor of veterinary & biomedical sciences.
Another group of calves were also dehorned but acted as a control group and were not given the combination of sedatives and anesthetics, she said.
The study was used to test if calves given the drugs would experience superior growth, less stress and fewer health problems than those dehorned without the use of drugs, Kennett said.
Vicki Fong, assistant director of science and research communications at Penn State, said the Animal Care and Use Committee must review a study before it begins.
The committee reviewed the experiment and decided it was worthwhile considering the long-term effects it could have on cows' welfare, Kennett said.
An article published on Aug. 10 in Hoard's Dairyman, a national dairy farmer's magazine, brought the study to the attention of animal activists like Robert Cohen.
Cohen, the president of the Dairy Education Board, said to do this study on young cows is unethical and pointless.
"This is the worst case of animal cruelty I have ever seen," he said. "It's simple -- use anesthesia. These cows are suffering without it."
Jen Carr (senior-geography) said she couldn't believe the researchers would do such a cruel thing.
"You wouldn't do that to humans. I think it's awful to do it to any other animal," she said. "Even if the research is to help benefit the animals, it's awful that some are being hurt in the process."
But Tiffany Morgan (sophomore-animal science) said it's actually more harmful for a cow to have horns.
"When the cows are young, their nerves aren't fully developed, so dehorning does not hurt them," she said. "I have dehorned many calves without the use of anesthesia, and it doesn't hurt them at all."
Richard Schwartz, president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, said compassion for animals should outweigh these studies regardless of the amount of pain they experience during testing.
"Even if the pain the animals feel is not extreme, the fact that they are in any pain for the sake of science is very negative," he said.
Kennett said activists do not fully understand the study and don't realize that it is to help, not harm, the cows.
"I feel confident that it was a misinterpretation of the study, which is not yet complete," Kennett said.
According to the article, calves given a sedative and anesthesia before dehorning did not outperform the other calves. The article said the study found no difference in growth rates or calf health between animals that received the drug combination and those that did not.
Kennett said the reason the calves were given the drugs was to increase their well being by optimizing their health and growth. She added that although the results of the study thus far do not show a difference in weight gain between the two groups, other aspects of the study are still ongoing.
"We are promoting health and welfare for farm animals through research," she said. "I feel that it is pretty clear, as Penn State veterinarians and researchers, that we care about animals, and our research is to help find better ways to keep them safe and healthy."
