On animal welfare, Madhu told me that his cow was due to give birth a few days ago, but that the birth was a little late. He explained that the calf often has to be taught how to suckle, an anxiety shared by mother, calf, and human attendants right at the start. Today he stated that the cow is giving about 12 litres of milk a day, but that calf only needs 4 litres, so that he can sell the majority of the milk. I then started to talk about the dairy industry, since it is only recently that I became aware of the exploitation of dairy cows. This is why people argue for veganism. The most cruel element is separating the calf very early after birth, and of course the routine slaughter of bullocks. The cow will continue to produce milk. The process also involves repeated pregnancies, another form of exploitation.
But what about letting the calves grow to maturity while taking off the surplus milk, as Madhu is doing? So, briefly, the vegan position is quite absolute. Animals should never be used in any way that may indicate exploitation; they have rights. However, many people, while acknowledging the wrongs of the industrial dairy industry, believe that the surplus produced by lactating cows can ethically be used. Of course, this does not deal with the premature slaughter of bullocks. A writer that we may look at is Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher, who has written on animal rights. He has produced a lot of material. I used to use his book Practical Ethics when I was teaching IB Theory of Knowledge. His approach is utilitarian, that is based on the contentment or suffering of animals, so a practice is wrong if the animal is degraded in any way. But also, other writers have taken a different approach to stand up for animals, arguing that they have inherent rights, so that their defence does not just depend on suffering in itself.
The question of how chickens are treated, and also sheep for their wool, is related. I am sure that we should do more for chickens. I think the EU has regulated this. A campaigning organisation is Compassion in World Farming. Maybe the tide will turn. Animals are sentient. And they are part of the long experience as souls in this world. It is ironic that cows are given huge respect in India and Nepal, but the bullocks are neglected as they have no commercial value. I would often see them abandoned by the side of roads, woefully looking for scraps of grass, even ingesting plastic.
After some debate, we have confirmed we will do the Mustang trek. I got a book from a bookshop in Kathmandu about the lesser known walks in Mustang. There is a lot there to do for many years. The landscape is extremely interesting. It is mostly treeless, and there are some amazing geometries out there, and also startling colours. Some summits are so gradual that you could easily ascend the 6000m in a carefree way, though still slowly in the thin air. The yellows that you can see apparently indicate uranium ore which the Chinese are interested in (that would be a disaster). At the top of the trek there is Lo Manthang, the walled town, at 3800m. The whole trek has become very popular with Nepalis in October, their festive season. But we have to walk on the road part of the way, so in the busy season, motorbikes would ply the route, not so good. Foreigners have to pay $50 a day, but it’s all a bit crazy since Nepalis don’t, and the idea of restricting access should apply to them as well, since it is a Buddhist culture, thriving in isolation.
I looked up the weather up there for the next fifteen days on windy.com and it indicates some snow from 7th January, so I urged Bishnu to start the trek two days earlier since I would love to be in falling snow up there. But looking at the website later on the same day, then the snow forecast had just vanished! It will be about minus 20 though!