An online video of a musclebound bull who appears to be the bovine equivalent of a steroid-enhanced athlete has reignited the debate about hormone injections in livestock.
You can watch the video below:
"This should be illegal to inject so much hormones and steroids into any animal it takes it out of its natural healthy looking character. This is sick and sad," one viewer wrote, the UK's Metro points out.
However, another viewer, according to Metro, replied, "This is a belgian breed of cattle that looks like this because of a genetic mutation that results in increased muscle mass!!! So stop this steroid and animal cruelty nonsense."
Metro reported "some cattle are injected with anabolic substances to produce thicker, leaner meat, but there are breeds - such as the Belgian Blue - which have more than double the muscle mass of others due to a gene that suppresses the muscle-inhibiting hormone myostatin."
"Belgian Blue Breed of beef cattle is relatively new to the United States but is rapidly gaining acceptance with beef breeders and dairymen," according to a breed profile by Oklahoma State University. "Belgian Blue cattle as they exist today are the result of selective genetic breeding and development conducted in Belgium by Professor Hanset at the AI (Artificial Insemination) Center in the Province of Liege. In the late fifties, a debate arose among the breeders, the question being whether to maintain the dual-purpose type as it was or to select for more muscling. The muscling prevailed. Concerning this critical period, three famous AI sires are to be cited: Gedeon and two of his grandsons Ganache and Vaiseur. From them came the model of the breed."
It is unclear from the video what breed of bull is shown or where the footage was taken.
