Male dairy calves cannot be used for dairy and have historically faced poor welfare outcomes. Understanding the issue helps consumers support solutions that improve calf welfare.
Male dairy calves represent a significant welfare issue at the intersection of dairy and beef production. The traditional solution of shooting at birth, while avoiding prolonged welfare compromise, represents the elimination of lives that could have had welfare-positive outcomes. White veal production in veal crates, still practiced in some countries, confines calves in isolation on iron-deficient diets that prevent normal movement and behavior for the purpose of producing anemic pale meat. Rose veal, produced under higher welfare conditions with appropriate feed, social housing, and adequate space, provides a welfare-positive alternative that gives male dairy calves a viable future.