As noted by the UK charity Four Paws "It used to be commonly believed that young animals do not experience pain to the same extent as older ones. This assumption has long been proven wrong. However, farmers continue to carry out surgery without anaesthesia for an obvious reason: to save money" 

While the RSPCA says "farm animals may require invasive husbandry procedures that are intended to benefit the animal or group of animals involved. These include castration, spaying, mulesing (removal of wool-bearing skin from part of the tail and breech area in sheep), dehorning and horn trimming (in cattle, sheep and goats), tail docking of lambs and piglets, laparoscopic insemination of sheep, branding of animals for identification, and beak trimming of poultry.

However, these procedures may often cause pain, suffering or distress, particularly because they are routinely performed without anaesthetic or pain relief. A lack of understanding of the animal’s ability to experience pain and the unavailability of anaesthetics and/or pain relief to lay operators have been the main reasons for this."

 "Unfortunately, legislators and decision-makers in this area often allow themselves to be influenced by economic factors". 

"The RSPCA’s position is that any procedure that may cause pain to the animals should be undertaken at the earliest possible age and only by competent and accredited operators. Appropriate pain-relieving products and treatments, and/or anaesthetics, must be used." These treatments must also be up to standard and within expiry dates.

This will make animal products more costly to the consumer but animal agriculture is already costly to the public health, as 3 in 4 new and emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in animals, and due to the excessive use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, is also responsible for most cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The consumer must pay what it costs without cutting corners for things to be done right in this sick and depraved industry where there is no right. Farm animals need our protection. So please make it law that farmers must use anaesthetics when carrying out these painful mutilations and procedures