I am replying to ragnar's last posting
First of all, I didn't download the paper you posted because I didn't need to. I should have clarified this in my first posting but I know all about this first hand. I was raised on a farm, I showed animals in 4-H since I was 6 and I am currently a student with the major of Pre-veterinary Medicine. I not only know people who live and own farms who raise cattle for food, but I have seen them first hand while the farmer is working. I will not argue with the article that the calves are kept in pens when they are small but that is for good reason. They are kept there while they are vulnerable to diseases, either standing on grass or straw unlike your article said, so that they do not contract diseases or viruses from other calves or cattle. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be eating infectious meat. When they are free of vulnerability, they are placed in paddocks or fields with the other cattle until they are ready for slaughter. The concrete that is used for paddocks is not flat but ridged and so there is traction for their hooves and so that they do not get shin splints. These are the conditions in which the animal is raised and it varies with different species. The farmer does what is needed to keep the animal healthy but they do not allow them to live in luxury due to the financial issues they would face. The farmer is trying to make a profit, not to allow an animal to live a life that a human would. That is the underlying principle here, they are treating them in an uncruel way but an inhumane way, as joerj11 stated.