Remember, the purpose of caponizing is to make a special sort of meat bird, one unlike any other. Caponizing isn't "cruel," in the sense that the caponizer is cruel or inhumane. Cruelty is a matter of intent, and caponizers work with very high ideals in mind. Where there is no ill intent, there can be no cruelty.
It IS a way to get more out of what might otherwise be simply surplus males. Put them to good use, as it were.
It is a very old practice; Marco Polo mentioned it. In this day and age such practices are seen as barbaric - unless you are hungry, of course. Given that and a surplus of males, un-needed on the farmstead, well... you draw your own conclusions.
It cannot be pleasant for the bird, as it is done without aenesthesia. It is also invasive... a nice way of saying you gotta cut them open. You can't sugar coat that or dismiss it with clinical terminology.
By the same token, they don't suffer long and are out and about the moment they are tossed back in the flock. The worst thing about it might be the learning curve of the caponizer himself.
To get good at caponizing, you gotta practice, and that implies you will make some mistakes. These mistakes are pretty final acts for the hapless bird that is the subject of the error.
Capons live at least twice as long as the average meat bird and are given the walk of the yard, for the most part. These are highly prized specimens and are treated as such. They are butchered cleanly and with care, as they are intended to be the finest of table fare. Pretty high ambition for a lowly scrub cockerel.
Honestly, the practice should make a comeback.
