He’s just a baby. Ripped away from his mother at birth, he peers out from the bars of his cramped, filthy crate. Day after day. Week after week. And there’s no escape—until the day he’s brought to slaughter, at just 16 weeks old.

Instead of his mother’s rich milk, he’s fed an artificial substitute that leaves him starved for both nourishment and affection. His anemic body aches from lack of movement. Deprived of companionship and connection, he’s basically in solitary confinement.

He doesn’t understand—when he was born, he was filled with a natural curiosity, energy, and an urge to explore the world. Every day, he becomes more hopeless. Why is this happening? What did he do wrong?

For baby cows born as “byproducts” of the dairy industry, this is the everyday horror of life in a veal crate. And it’s all for one reason. Profit.

The meat industry routinely—and intentionally—squeezes calves into these claustrophobic crates, designed to restrict them from developing muscle that would toughen their meat. In some cases, the animals are even chained in place. As many as 40% of them develop painful arthritis from the lack of movement. Some grow so weak they can barely walk to the slaughter line. The distressed, lethargic calves often bite at the bars of their crates, suffering painful ulcers and stomach lesions from their liquid-based diet.

The idea of treating baby animals this way is utterly shocking. And multiple states have banned veal crates entirely. But rather than move away from the heartbreaking practice, the meat industry is digging in its heels—attacking laws against veal crates from every angle.

In 2022, Big Meat took its fight all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They fought to overturn Prop 12, a landmark law that bans the sale of animal products in California that come from cruel caged systems, including veal crates. Along with our partner organizations, The Humane League’s legal counsel mounted a valiant defense. And we won. Prop 12 was upheld.

The tide is turning, but protections for baby cows are still under vicious attack by the meat industry. Factory farming interests are pressuring Congress to undo Proposition 12, along with other laws like it. In dozens of states across the US, babycalvessufferagonizingconfinement for the entirety of their brief lives.

We’re changing that. Law by law, alongside our partner organizations and Animal Policy Alliance, The Humane League is defending baby cows from the industry’s attack on animal welfare.

Add your name to join this historic fight for compassion. If you opt to receive emails from The Humane League, we’ll alert you as soon as there’s a policy initiative in your state that needs support!