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It might be a sensitive time to talk about wearing a mask, especially for the rest of a lifetime.

That simply cannot be in the best interest of any living creature. However, this is exactly what is being proposed — and being developed — for cattle.

The mask (developed by art students) covers the nostrils of the cow and is held on by rigid plastic straps which also connect to a large unit that is around the neck and under the chin of the bovine. This unit converts methane to carbon dioxide by capturing the burped gas.

Prince Charles loved the idea so much he gave the team from the Royal College of Art in London an $80,000 award to further develop the mask in the interest of climate change.

The concept and award were based on the ‘fact’ that cattle are the major climate culprits by emitting methane.

Doing a little research on my own, I discovered that estimates of the methane produced by bovines varied considerably, depending on the source — anywhere from four per cent to 65 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. In the story about the bovine masks, cows were portrayed as criminal emitters and even the number of cattle in the world was exaggerated — by 600,000 head.

Anyone can throw out numbers without adequate research to support a case, but you have to ask: Just what is the point of developing a methane mask?

Regardless of the conversation in high-end circles of theorists and innovators who may have never seen a cow (from either end), the reality is that when it comes to cattle, the majority of them live in India, Brazil and China. So it is highly unlikely from a logistics, cultural and economic standpoint that there is even a remote interest in masking hundreds of millions of head of cattle.

And here’s another catch: Cattle are not the only ruminants on the planet.

There are 30 million wild deer, 68,000 giraffes, 1.4 million domestic sheep and goats (along with a multitude in the wild), 165,000 moose, an unknown number of gazelles, 91 species of antelope in addition to yak and ox along with 204,000 buffalo and 15,000 head of bison — all of which are ruminants. There are far more of the other ruminants than there are cattle. Will they also be masked?

And what of those with three-stomach compartments such as camels, alpacas and llamas? Are they contributing more than a mono-gastric such as a horse and, in doing so, are they also to be considered climate culprits? Even a rodeo cowboy would think twice about masking a wild moose or the temperamental camel.

Selecting the domesticated and most docile ruminant is certainly an efficient route when it comes to understanding the science behind rumination, but it hardly is representative of the mass of animals in the world with four compartments for food digestion.

From the First World perspective, it appears we are facing three choices when it comes to appreciating meat in global diets.

The first is to change what cows eat so they have less gas. An EU company now sells a CowCredit to airlines so they can offset their carbon footprint. Each credit is the equivalent of offsetting one tonne of C02. Passengers are asked to pay an extra fee to contribute to climate solutions. (Most have refused to participate.)

Perhaps those passengers are considering the second option, which is to eliminate cattle (but not the rest of the ruminants) and eat an alternate protein. From a biodiversity and regenerative perspective, that simply would be catastrophic. The current science behind the production of alternate meats has proven that there are nearly equivalent emissions produced per calorie as there is in producing live meat. The benefit of ruminants is that they are part of a regenerative system which is something that even the CowCredit promoters recognized.

The third option is for ruminants to wear a mask. That’s likely not going to work — anywhere.

If cattle do wear masks, they should do so to protect themselves from the exaggerated bull, jet fumes, smoke plumes, drilling, mining and resource development emissions, deforestation, manufacturing, fast cars — and the waste of the elite (that one per cent of the population who are responsible for 16 per cent of all global emissions).

I have an issue with binding the bovine to escape our moral responsibility and accountability to all living things and to develop a balanced approach to mitigate future climate damage.

Part of the animal welfare code is the right to self-expression. A thick collar, hard plastic mask and harness does not lend itself to expression, movement, social interaction or provide a level of safety.

I can see a host of risks and discomforts to the animal. Using cattle as the scapegoat does not mitigate or change irresponsible climate behaviour or rescue us from future climate damage. A methane mask alters nature — and in doing so has the unintended consequence of altering our future relationship with the world in which we live.

Brenda Schoepp works as an international mentor and motivational speaker. She can be contacted through her website at www.brendaschoepp.com. All rights reserved.

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