Ranch brandings in the future will take on an all new look thanks to squeamish animal rightists who get ill just thinking about all the despicable things we do to our animals to keep them healthy and safe. PETA and their ilk want you to treat your cattle like humans. No, on second thought, they want you to treat your animals better than the typical human in need of medical care at the ER. Which is not that high of a standard really.
Here’s how I see a typical branding 20 years from now.
A USDA inspector will be on hand to insure that there will be no ear notching, hot iron branding, mugging, dehorning, wrestling, or roping. Which explains why all the neighbors stayed home. Instead of calves being roped a bunch of twelve year old computer geeks will sit in comfort back at the ranch headquarters maneuvering drones over calves and gently dropping soft nets over them. A GPS will automatically inform the medical team of the calf’s location.
The surgical team will consist of the following: an anesthetist, surgical veterinarian, nurse, vet tech, cowboy A, cowboy B, an ambulance driver and two PCRA certified rodeo clowns. (Not to be confused with USDA or EPA clowns.) All participants by law must be gowned and wear sterile gloves. When the mobile bovine hospital reaches the calf two cowboy paramedics wearing those cute little booties that doctors wear over their $1,500 shoes will jump out of the ambulance to gently retrieve the calf from its net. They will attempt to place the calf in the sterile surgical theater in the ambulance, without the calf’s mother killing them. This is where the PRCA clowns come into play. If the calf’s mom displays extreme anti-social behavior it’s the clown’s job to distract the crazy cow long enough so that Cowboy A and Cowboy B can transport the calf in a loving manner without being gored or trampled to death.
Once in the surgical theater the anesthesiologist will swab the injection site with a topical pain killer so that the calf will not feel the anesthesiologist’s needle. To reduce separation anxiety the back of the ambulance will open so that the cow can be in contact with her calf during the medical procedure. Should the cow attempt to climb into the ambulance it is the job of any surviving cowboy or clown to persuade her otherwise, without the use of a whip, rope or paddle. Should any cow persist it will be the duty of the USDA observer to call a “timeout”, releasing the drugged calf to her stressed out mother and thereby gaining a permanent exemption.
After the sterile draping is in place and the calf’s effected area should be cleaned, disinfected and shaved by the vet tech and then the surgical team will perform a castration or a spaying of the heifer. The vet will also administer all shots and implant a computer chip with a mandatory USDA 32 digit password. All incisions will be closed by the surgeon so that the calf will not be self conscious about his or her scar. This is especially important with heifer calves. Finally, since ranchers need some visible sign of ownership so they won’t accidentally eat their own beef instead of the neighbor’s, a freeze brand will be applied. White calves will be excused.
At the end of the branding instead of the traditional beef barbecue we’ll see Cowboy A hanging on for dear life at the top of a Joshua tree preferring the three inch spines to the 12 inch horns of the mad momma down below. The USDA inspector and any third party observers will be locked in the front of the ambulance with all the windows rolled up, the doors locked and quivering like a leaf in a 30 mph gust. The two PRCA clowns will be running around the ambulance with a witchy cow in close pursuit.
Meanwhile, the calves that are scattered all over the ranch will be waking up from their long naps and any human survivors that are still mobile will head down to the hospital where Cowboy B was medivacced in a Life Flight helicopter. The cowboy crowd will stand vigil until he dies from his wounds or comes out of his coma.
Any costs not covered by Medicalf will be borne by the rancher. (Typically $35,000 per calf.)
