Cattle Industry Development in Latin America - Research Paper Example

Introduction Cattle better referred to as cows are essential herbivores that form an essential part of ones diet in terms of milk and beef. This animal is an integral part of the society, yet people rarely take time to study or appreciate this creature. For my research study, I was keen to learn more about cows, and I was particularly interested in how different people in society viewed cows. I was also for the most part intrigued by how different cultures and religions perceived this animal. Cows are a common species of animals, and many people have seen a cow during their lifetime. However, the degree at which people value and keep this animal significantly depends on their culture, religion and background. In Latin America cows are predominantly used in bullfighting, in Africa, they are a sign of wealth and prestige while in India; the cow is a holy being that is to be revered. In the media, cows are often portrayed as big, domesticated and fertile animals. More and more farmers are slowly abandoning cattle keeping because the cost of feeding them, veterinary cost is quite high as opposed to cultivating other cash crops. There are many different breeds of cows depending on their use. Ranchers mainly keep beef cattle while there are those who keep dairy cows. This also depends on the conduciveness of an area’s climate. The importance of cows to the economy cannot be under-rated since the Cattle industry is a multibillion dollar enterprise that significantly boosts the economy of many countries. Cows provide milk, beef, hides used in making leather and shoes. The value of cows is profoundly undermined and therefore, it is for this reason that I decided to base my research on the importance of cows and the connection that exists between man and cows. Methodology Cows are easy animals to see, unlike other animals like tigers and leopards. Though easy to see they are the most unseen animals and the least appreciated of creatures; nevertheless, they have among the biggest benefits to mankind. I wanted to find out peoples attitude and beliefs about cows. To conduct my research, I deliberately chose to carry out interviews with different people in order to learn about their views and attitudes about cows. Interviews are an effective way of getting in depth information, and it is also quite helpful in discovering how individuals feel and think about a particular subject matter. Therefore, with this in mind I conducted four interview sessions with people of different cultures and who had lived in different parts of the world (Dr. Toncich 25). Just before my actual interviewing sessions, I made a point of visiting different areas where they had reared cattle. I did my observations without interrupting people and i also interviewed two experts there as I sought to find out why they did the jobs they did, what they found most intriguing about working with cows and if they felt a connection with the cows? All in all I came up with a total of ten questions that I asked my respondents. Most of these questions were open-ended, leaving the interviewee free to answer accordingly also considered a few factors such as culture, gender, nationality and religion as I choose my respondents. This is because I felt it necessary to include all these factors so as to get valid and precise findings of my study. In my quest of wanting to find out more about how people felt about cows, I decide to gather more information from secondary sources of data. These included journals, books, and the internet. These sources also proved to contain a lot of resources as pertaining to my research study. The following is the are some of the questions that I used in getting the responses that I needed for the success of the research. Possible answers have also been provided. Questionnaire Responses -How did you begin in this field or profession? Researching on the different views of people on cows -What animals do you focus on? I did focus on cows -Why have you chosen to work with these animals? It features and traits are well connected to human being -What do you find most interesting about your work? Different people have varied perception regarding animal ranging from religion across to economical capacity. -Why do you think cows are important animals? They traits and end products are essential to man. -What do you think people can learn from cows? It’s an essential animal that needs to be well tamed. -how would you describe the life with cows? Friendly and productive -why do you think that cows are important? They contribute greatly towards the welfare of the human person. -From your experience with cows, what is the connection between people and cows? The relationship between cows and people may be seen as being excellent. Results of the study After having conducted my interviews with the respondents, I embarked on analyzing the information I had gotten from my data collection. Majority of my participants had seen cows severally but, few of them had an opportunity to keep or rear any. Most of the respondents appreciated the usefulness of the cow especially in terms of ones diet but few knew about the work that entails the keeping of cows for beef or milk. When asking which animal is their favorite for domesticating or rearing most of the respondents preferred keeping a cat or a dog. Two of the respondents had only seen cows on the television or in a book but not live. However, all the respondents described the cow as an animal of considerable usefulness to man and all of them knew the products that we usually get from cows. One of the interviewee, who worked in the cattle ranch as an expert on cattle keeping felt motivated to work I the ranch since he felt the cows were a great source of livelihood and that he felt they were environmental friendly. When analyzing the answers from the participants of the study, I realized that the cow was an animal that people liked though they failed to appreciate its usefulness. Another point to note was that participants from Asia and India had a lot of respect for cows. Especially the Indians since they recognize the cow as sacred. However, they do not slaughter or rear cows for the purpose of beef or milk. Other religions such as Buddhist seemed to believe in the sanctity of the cow. Data When I was through with my research question, I had to send them to the four people from DU, which two of them gave a response on their perception on the connection of people with cows. It was very regrettable that I did not get a response from the other two people. There was a common thing that was realized between the four people. All of them had domesticated cows in their homes. Almost all of the four persons had either been to the ranch, or they have been able to domesticate cattle. In fact most of the participants have been to the Cottonwood Ranch, in Nevada. Other cattle ranches that had been visited by the participants were in Mexico. When the participants were interviewed on which animal is their favorite an animal at the Ranch, I realized that the majority answered with an animal from herbivorous species. This includes cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, Giraffe among others (NRC 65). A buffalo was another animal that was very popular that the participants reported to have encountered with. All the participants had seen cows in their real life and several encounters with them, but their experiences differed regarding them. One of the participant said that he domesticated the animal, while the other one claimed to have had an experienced with the animal in the ranch. The cow was mostly described with the words, calm, strong and graceful animal. Where watching over the media, and identifying a cow over here, one of the participant thought that the cow’s traits could be described depending on how much milk it produced and also on the shape of its body. Those from dry regions seemed to have a hump, while as the rest did not. The participant perceived a cow a being admirable, attractive and moreover very friendly. While in real life situations, one participant perceived the animal as being friendly, the other who had only encountered with the animal from the ranch, perceived the animal as being fierce. Data Analysis When interpreting and evaluating on the responses I got, I realized that all my participants have had an encounter with a cow. Most of them had either been to the cattle ranches in either, Cottonwood Ranch, in Nevada or in Mexico. The cow was the animal the people wished to be associated with, as they had all seen and encountered with it. This is a good response, as mentioned in the introductory part, and it’s very common within cattle ranches and also domesticated at homes (NRC 200). By acknowledging that the Cow was one of the animals that the participants to like most, we can then pose a question, is the cow such rare animal? Is a cow an animal that is valuable rearing or rather domesticating it? Is there a need of dometisticating the animal considering what I already mentioned in the introductory part? There cost of rearing and maintaining this animal is quite and may not correspond to their providence to the human being. As a matter of fact, from most of the responses that I gathered is becomes evident that most people will shy away from domesticating this kind of animal. As mentioned in the earlier chapters, rearing and keeping of this animal will depend on diverse factors that range from religion across to the economic factors. It was also confirmed that, those rearing cattle in Cottonwood Ranch, in Nevada regarded cattle very much. They regarded the animal as being calm, friendly and moreover economically productive (NRC 155-160). Conclusion A research involving whether domesticated or wild animals is essential to people and to their quality of life. During the recent times, most of the people dependent heavily on the animals they reared. However, in the present time people have left most of these animals to suffer yet they not know the value of these animals when a need arises. Cows in this case and as pertains to this research has been presented as being one of the animals that can help one depending on the way it’s perceived. Works Cited Dr. Toncich, Dario, Far Away Cows - A Book About Cows, Engineers and Research into Parkinsons Disease, Virginia :Dario Toncich, 2003. J Rushen, Jeffrey, Anne Marie de Passillé, Marina A. G. von Keyserling. The welfare of cattle Volume 5 of Animal welfare, Chicago: Springer, 2008 National Research Council (U.S.), Subcommittee on Beef Cattle. Nutrient requirements of beef cattle Issue 4 of Nutrient requirements of domestic animals, 6th Ed., New York: National Academies, 2001. National Research Council (U.S.), Subcommittee on Beef Cattle .Nutrient requirements of dairy cattle, Volume 1, Nutrient requirements of domestic animals, New York: 7thEd. New York: National Academies Press, 2001.m Read More