Physical Harm

Castration Without Anaesthetic or Pain Relief

Spermatic cords are crushed and blood supply is cut until the testicles "drop off"

74%

of Brits disapprove of newborn calves being castrated by having their testicles crushed.¹

anesthetic or pain relief is required when castrating young animals.²

Zero

qualifications are required: farm workers can castrate if they are “reasonably competent”.³

What It Is

“Come on in, pop them on the table, and whatever you do, don’t look as I take this clamp to your danglers.” We may have a bit of moan about the NHS at times but at least there is still money in the pot for surgical necessities. Not so on factory farms where mutilations are legal and commonplace.

First, no one is scrubbed and disinfected before surgery. Second, that person eying up your spermatic cord is unlikely to be medically or surgically trained (even though the industry admits that crushing a spermatic cord is “difficult to carry out correctly.”⁴) And last, but very much by no means least, they do not need to give anaesthetic or pain relief. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE CASTRATING AN ANIMAL.

If you are squirming in your seat and willing your testicles to retract safely into your groin and stay there in perpetuity, you are not alone.