These cows have been trained to do it "in the potty" to reduce emissions, but the real problem remains us

Scientists have taught cows to urinate in a toilet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but is this really the solution?

Scientists have taught calves to pee in a special toilet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but is that really the solution?

It sounds like a joke, but it's not. Designed as a measure to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and soil and water pollution from farms, an international team of researchers from the Farm Animal Biology Research Institute (FBN) in Germany and the University of Auckland in New Zealand trained calves to "go to the bathroom".

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, showed that cows can be trained to deposit most of their urine in purpose-built latrines - dubbed "MooLoo" - thus enabling the development of more effective methods for collecting, treating and disposing of urine. 'urine. (READ also: Eating organic meat is not enough to save the Planet. The new study on farm emissions)

The pee of cows, a source of pollution

According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the livestock sector, as a whole, accounts for 14,5% of all greenhouse gas emissions related to human activities. Part of these come precisely from manure, in which compounds such as ammonia and methane are present, a gas now recognized for its powerful greenhouse effect. (READ also: 20 companies producing meat and dairy products generate more greenhouse gases than industrialized countries like France and Germany: the shock report)

Not only that, livestock manure is one of the sources of soil and water pollution. When cows are mainly kept outdoors, such as in New Zealand and Australia, the nitrogen in the urine breaks down in the soil. This produces two problematic substances: nitrate and nitrous oxide.

Trained cows

©Current Biology

Normally it is assumed that cattle are unable to control defecation or urination, but these, like many other farm animals, are quite intelligent and can learn a lot. Why can't they learn to use the bathroom? " wondered Jan Langbein, an animal psychologist at FBN and lead author of the study.

But how did they manage to train them? First, the researchers locked 16 calves in the latrines. Whenever they urinated there, they were given food or sugary water as a reward. Then they used negative reinforcement methods to teach them not to urinate in pastures: when they did, the researchers sprayed water on the animals' faces.

The experiment worked, but not 100%. Out of 16 calves, only 10 have learned to use the latrines. In fact, the scientists found that the cows' ability to hold back the urge to urinate and go to the latrine was equivalent to a toddler's ability and even greater than that of younger children.

"Our findings are original and reveal a hitherto unrealized opportunity to harness the cognitive abilities of animals to help solve pressing environmental problems without compromising animal welfare," the research reads.

However, speaking of "animal welfare" on farms so lightly is truly absurd. The problem is not the urine of the cows, the problem is us. The question that arises spontaneously is: wouldn't it be better to teach human beings respect for all forms of life, educating them to eat less meat to protect the environment and their own health?

Among other things, this "training" shows us all the marked intelligence of these animals, meek and sweet, which instead are subjected to unspeakable torture in every part of the world for their milk and their meat. Let's reverse the points of view, because this is not a solution at all, but yet another exploitation and subjugation by the human being.