Cows are moms, too
As I look forward to Mother’s Day and its cherished bond between mother and child, my mind wanders to dairy cows, worldwide symbols of motherhood, most of which never get to see or nurture their own babies.
Many newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth and turned into veal cutlets, so we can drink the milk designed for them. The grief-stricken mothers bellow for days, hoping in vain for their return.
Most dairy cows spend their lives chained to a concrete floor, with no access to the outdoors. Each year, they are impregnated artificially, to maintain production, and milked by machines twice a day. When production drops, around four years of age, they are ground to be used as hamburgers.
Dairy products are laden with cholesterol, saturated fats, hormones, pathogens and antibiotics. And are leading causes of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Most adults even lack the enzyme for digesting dairy products. Humans are the only creatures that drink the milk of another species.
This Mother’s Day, let’s honor motherhood and our natural compassion for animals by rejecting the dairy industry’s cruelty and disease. Let’s replace cow’s milk and its products with delicious, healthy, cruelty-free plant-based milk, cheese, and ice cream products that can easily be found in our supermarkets.
Bill Motter, McAllen
Protecting women
The Violence Against Women’s Act of 1994, signed by President Bill Clinton, provided funds to investigate and prosecute violent crimes against women. It expired in 2012. In 2013, President Barack Obama signed an expansion of this law that included a provision to allow the protection of illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. After its passage, some Republicans charged Democrats had been deceitful about the language of the bill.
The 2013 law protects those who are the former or current spouse, parent or child of a resident immigrant or U.S. citizen and who are being abused by that immigrant or citizen. Victims may seek shelter and/or restraining orders, regardless of their immigration status.
Victims also should do the following: Keep a paper trail of the abuse — police reports, restraining orders, etc. Be able to prove that they are, or have been in a qualifying relationship with the abuser, such as living with the person. And they must be eligible to apply for a green card and pay for it on their own.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reevaluating U.S. asylum policy regarding victims of domestic violence. A possible reversal of such a policy would mean that women fleeing domestic violence in their home country would no longer qualify for asylum in the United States.
Silvestre Moreno Jr.,
Mercedes
