Don't have a cow, but....

   .......a TV news story the other day featured the use of robots on a local dairy farm, a reputable establishment where doubtless the animals are well fed and hydrated.   The cows were in their milking stalls where they were being milked by robots.  Not that new really, automatic milking machines have been around for at least half a century.  The difference here was that there were fewer humans involved; evidently the milking apparatus attaches and detaches automatically.  The story also illustrated the use of robots in feeding the cows and in cleaning the stalls.  All good features in the age of declining farm workers, but I couldn't help but notice the condition of the cows and the barn.  Could you believe?  The cows were not only plastered with what looked to be muck and feces:  they were standing in their own waste!   (Until the robots showed up.)   Eww, and we drink their milk.   Granted, we might not look upon cows as pets, since they're usually sent to slaughter at 5 or 6 years of age, but those poor animals must be suffering.  And to add injury to insult, you should just look at their tails, or what's left of them.  The cow the camera focused on had a stub of a tail not much longer than 6 or 8 inches.  In the age of automation, cows' tails are routinely lopped off because they get in the way of the milking machines.  And you think the dogs in puppy mills have it tough. 
    Drive by the dairy farms when the cows are out in the fields, and note that many cows have only half tails.  Now that robots are in use, they'll be lucky if they have that much.  I once asked a farm worker how the cows were able to brush off the flies, and she said the farmers just applied extra insecticide to the cows.  Eww-and we drink their milk.  You may notice that the cows chosen to be displayed at the Schaghticoke Fair have their full tails, and are kept very clean.  Real life holds a lot of dirty little secrets.