A variety of castration technologies and procedures are currently in practice and under development in different parts of the world. These technologies and procedures have several advantages and disadvantages with respect to their practice. Surgical castration, rubber band, and burdizzo clamp are three of the most commonly used methods. Surgical castration involves restraining the cow and using a scalpel to completely remove the testicular tissue. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although surgical castration is a painfully intense procedure that requires expertise on the part of the staff, the castration process is much quicker and beef cattle suffer for a much shorter period of time than other castration methods. Wounds inflicted by surgical castration heal relatively faster than other methods, but they also run the risk of infection. The bandaging procedure involves using a rubber band to physically cut off the blood supply to the scrotum and testicles. The scrotal and testicular tissue of beef cattle eventually dies and falls off. The advantages of this procedure are the ease of performance and the absence of open wounds on infection-prone beef cattle. Some of the major disadvantages of this procedure are as follows: testicular tissue may not be completely removed, nuts develop, the procedure causes long-term pain in beef cattle, and wounds heal more slowly. Similar to elastic bandaging, the burdizzo tightening method physiologically cuts off the blood supply to the scrotum and testicles causing them to sag. The emasculating burdizzo is the instrument used to crush the vas deferens and the artery that supplies blood to the scrotum and testicles. Since the emasculating burdizzo must be held in place for at least 10 seconds, beef cattle are also restrained during this castration method. The burdizzo clamping method minimizes the acute pain experienced from surgical castration and because there are no open wounds the risk of infection decreases. However, this method requires experience, causes more swelling than elastic bandaging, and there is a risk that not all testicular tissue will be removed. An alternative to the above procedures, immunocastration is a recently developed procedure that indirectly suppresses testosterone production by inducing the production of antibodies against gonadotropin-releasing hormone. This process is activated by injecting beef cattle twice during their lifetime. This procedure is advantageous because it causes less pain to beef cattle than other castration procedures. The disadvantages of this procedure are that the castrated effect has a limited time frame (12-16 weeks), has a high failure rate and is not as widely available worldwide. The pain experienced during castration can be alleviated through the use of anesthetic and analgesic drugs. An example of an anesthetic drug used during castration is lidocaine. Many of the analgesic drugs used during castration are anti-inflammatory and also reduce the sensation of pain. Economy: The cost of castration varies depending on the castration procedure used. For example, one of the most expensive procedures for castrating beef cattle is immunocastration, while elastic banding and surgical castration are relatively inexpensive in comparison. Additionally, if the neutering procedure requires the assistance of a veterinarian, the cost of neutering will be significantly higher. Aexample of such a case would be the cost of the surgical procedure needed to remove belly nuts, a complication of the rubber band castration procedure. Medications used for pain management during the painful practice of castration also affect the cost of castration. One study found that the cost of castration for a calf that is not given any anesthesia is 28 cents, but the total cost of castration increases to $1.56 when the calf is given local anesthesia. Furthermore, the cost of castration increases further with the administration of systemic analgesia. The cost of castration is offset by the following economic benefits: reduction in management costs of beef cattle and improvement in meat quality. Castration leads to the creation of bulls that are docile and easier to handle due to their significantly reduced aggression. For this reason, docile bulls do not require expensive special fencing and handling equipment. Fewer fences are also needed for castrated beef cattle because castration eliminates the possibility of unwanted breeding and therefore decreases the cost of fencing. There is a strong economic rationale for castration because, without castration, meat from beef cattle has a stronger flavor and is sold at a lower price. There is also a study that shows that although the majority of consumers do not agree with castration practices, they are not willing to pay more for non-castration meat. Because the use of anesthesia and other pain-relieving drugs during castration does not increase profits, castrators are less motivated to use them. Using BCSPCA labeling on Canadian beef products indicates that they come from a farm with higher Canadian standards. This labeling process has the potential to economically motivate castrators to use pain relief drugs as consumers may show a preference and pay more for these higher standard meat products. Biological Knowledge: The pain and stress of castration procedures are quantitatively measured by cortisol levels in beef cattle. In the context of livestock castration, a higher concentration of cortisol in the body is indicative of a higher level of pain and stress caused by that castration procedure. Because the concentration of cortisol in the body is influenced by multiple factors other than pain and stress, these should not be used as the sole biological indicator used to quantify pain and stress. Behavioral changes such as stride length, grunting, and restlessness should also be considered. There is repeated biological evidence and consensus in favor of castrating calves at a young age. Such evidence primarily suggests that younger castrated calves have faster recovery rates, less pain (indicated by cortisol levels), and less effect on weight gain changes during surgical castration. Regarding recovery rates, the shock of castration has been shown to be less in younger calves. The main biological side effects of castration are pain, tendency to immobility (both upright and lying down), hemorrhage and infection. Cortisol is an immunosuppressant and as its levels increase during castration, the calf becomes even more susceptible to infection. Weight gain is an additional side effect of castration, and the extent of weight change depends on the procedure used. For example, surgically castrated calves showed an increased rate