The other weekend I was able to go home for a couple of days. Not only did I get to visit my family and see my mom for Mother's Day. It just so happened that a family friend was holding their branding during the weekend as well.
I haven't been to a branding for quite a few years, being away at school and busy with other activities, I just hadn't gone in awhile. So, when my dad mentioned that we were going to one I was quite excited.
Not only was it a chance to go see family friends that I haven't seen for quite some time because I live a fair ways away from home; but, "branding season" almost goes hand in hand with the beginning of summer. With brandings held in May, there is usually sun shining and, seeing as we live in Saskatchewan, at least a little wind. In fact the other day if I hadn't put on sunscreen I'm fairly certain I would have been quite burnt.
Though brandings seem to mark the beginning of summer to me, they also show neighbourliness. When I was younger I remember there being a ton of people involved. One family would have a branding and everyone would show up, then the next family would have one and people would simply make the rounds.
There were at least eight or nine people involved. They would take on the roles of roping, holding, tagging, vaccinating, castrating, and branding calves, while keeping track of the calves' identifying numbers.
This time around I was surprised to see few people around. In total there were six of us to do the work; but, times have changed. There are less people in the area where I grew up and the kids I remember that attended with their families would be in their 20s now, no longer at home to help.
In the same instance change is good because it was possible for less people to do the job. Cowboys up on their horses roping calves and others wrestling them weren't needed, we had a chute that held them in place and they were just pushed right through, as well as a cradle for the calves.
During a short break we were visiting and discussing what I would write for my column. It was joked that I would write about animal rights and brandings. To which the owners of the cattle said, very seriously, that the practice of using a hot iron to brand their cattle was "archaic," because it is "hard on the cows." Yet, there isn't really anything else out there to keep track of their animals when put into a community pasture.
The animals are tagged, but what if the tags are somehow lost while the animal is out?
They spoke about freeze branding cows, which is the newest technology, though this is quite expensive. This is through the use of dry ice or liquid nitrogen. It is said to cause less damage to the cattle's hide and make it easier to see the brand from a fair distance because the hair turns white when it grows back.
This sounded like quite the difference from heating an iron over the open fire like they did back in the day.
Branding does hurt the animal, it's why it bellers; but, only for a short time. They have tougher hide than humans and though it does hurt for a short amount of time they are back to their lives no longer bellering or showing any signs of being in pain. They are back to frolicking, chewing cud, and just being cows in no time. They do have a tougher skin than humans and a new fad amongst people is actually branding instead of tattooing.
For cattle, however, if there were a more options out there that were both economical and practical I'm sure that they would catch on amongst ranchers because they love their animals. I think that is one thing animal rights activists never really take into account. None of the ranchers think, "Gee, lets hurt some cows today."
The animals are not only the rancher's livelihood, but they care about them greatly. The cattle are often named or known simply by recognizable markings. Ranchers take pride in their work, their herds. For breeders seeing their brands in other's pastures, making a difference in someone else's herd is why they do what they do.
Raising cattle is a passion of theirs and if they didn't have to hurt their animals, I'm sure they wouldn't. It's just a matter of there not being a serious replacement. Sure, there is tattooing, freeze branding, iris scanning, and tagging; but, really these are not very good replacements. Tattooing, iris scanning, and tagging make it necessary to actually chase down the cow and read the information to discover if the animal is yours or not. Tagging is already done, but for animals to go into a community pasture they need a brand as well, because what happens if a tag falls off? Finally freeze branding, though I think it sounds pretty neat, is more work and costs more than simply heating an iron.
