AceShowbiz -

Ryan Gosling wrote a letter to National Milk Producers Federation to urge the federation to stop "barbaric practice" of removing horns from cattle which is called dehorning. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shared "The Place Beyond the Pines" star's letter on Wednesday, April 3.

"Dehorning is one of the most painful things done to cows on dairy farms, whether it is by burning a calf with a searing hot iron or applying caustic paste to create a chemical burn that eats away at the animal's flesh," Ryan wrote. However, many people do not bother giving painkiller to the cattle.

Calves which undergo the process wail in pain, trash and even collapse, while people hold the heads manually or put them in a tool to hold them by their neck. The process is even more painful to calves which start developing horns, because the horns will be rooted on the skull. Ryan said in the letter that people use sharp tools such as saws, sharp wires, or gruesome guillotine dehorners. Those tools will cut the surrounding skin, in addition to the horns.

"There is absolutely no reason - and no excuse - for the cruel, unnecessary practice of dehorning to continue. I respectfully urge the National Milk Producers Federation to take the lead in stopping this barbaric practice by requiring farmers to phase out dehorning by breeding for polled, or naturally hornless, cattle," Ryan concluded the letter.

According to Associated Press, National Milk Producers Federation's spokesman, however, said on Wednesday that dehorning is needed to reduce injuries to both humans and cows.