The Nation - News from April 1, 1986

Animal-protection activists picketed the Agriculture Department in Washington to protest a rule that dairy cattle to be slaughtered under a federal subsidy program must be branded on the face. Cleveland Amory, head of the Fund for Animals, marched with about two dozen supporters and called the requirement “the most totally stupid, unnecessary cruelty.” Under the program, the government will buy out entire herds to reduce the U.S. milk supply. About 1.5 million cows and heifers are to be slaughtered so that some farmers can suspend production for five years.