In Norway, when visiting a village in summer, tourists meet grazing cattle on a pasture and see small lambs strolling side-by-side with their mother; a picturesque scene. It is easy to belive that a farm animal’s circumstances is idyllic. But the reality for these animals is that the moment fall arrives they are tucked away; some for the rest of the year to be trapped in barns and others to be sent to the slaughterhouse. Furthermore, if you read veterinary reports, these animals stuck in barns, suffer greatly through persistent mastitis, pressure sores and other harmful maladies; it is quickly clear their lives are far from idyllic.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy, and the deepest pain, that animals suffer through merciless farmers, is depriving the animals of their children. Cows and goats are separated from their offspring after they give birth, while sheep are allowed only a short stay with their young. In a country such as Norway, which considers itself to be so humanistic, how can one treat animals like this?
A friend of mine, who grow up on a farm in Telemark, a valley in Norway, once told me that newborn calves had such amazingly, beautiful eyes. Why don’t farmers see their beauty and understand that they have as much of a right to live as we do?
Children can see an animals’ greatness. For many children, the family dog is the children’s best friend; someone they can talk to, seek for consolation and give their care and affection to. A dog is a friend who listens, comforts and is there for them.
There are so many animal lovers in our current day, and I am happy to be one of them. I often feel even closer to animals than to the people around me. A relationship with an animal is truly authentic and soul to soul; an experience in the purest form of unconditional love.
In this section I will discuss the natural life of many agricultural animals and how despairingly different it is for most in Norway and also throughout most of the developed world.
