It is simply encouraging to a high degree the
special function for which generations of careful breeding have fitted
the animal.
That there is gratification in giving milk, no well-bred cow or mother
will deny. It is a joyous function to eat large quantities of pleasant
food and turn it into milk. Heredity impels the cow to do this, and it
would take generations of wild life to wean her from it. As well say
that the cataleptic trance of the pointer, when the game bird lies close
and the delicate scent fills his nostrils, is not a joy to him, or that
the Dalmatian at the heels of his horse, or the foxhound when Reynard's
trail is warm, receive no pleasure from their specialties.
Do these animals feel no joy in the performance of service which is bred
into their bones and which it is unnatural or freakish for them to lack?
No one who has watched the "bred-for-milk" cow can doubt that the joys
of her life are eating, drinking, sleeping, and giving milk. Pushing her
to the limit of her capacity is only intensifying her life, though,
possibly, it may shorten it by a year or two.
Pages:
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376