The 1st of June 2022 is World Milk Day, as declared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN. But across the globe, there are cows and calves paying the ultimate price for humans to consume milk and other dairy products every day.
1. Milk comes from a mother cow, who made it for her calf.
If you only found out recently that a cow needs to have a calf to produce milk, you are not alone. To commercially supply dairy products like milk and cheese, cows are kept almost constantly pregnant… So where are all the babies?
On most farms across Australia and the world, each time a cow used for dairy gives birth, her calf is taken from her on the first day of his or her life.
A male calf is often sent to slaughter, considered a ‘waste product’ by the industry as he will never produce milk. A female calf may be raised to join the milking herd – forced to endure the repeated pregnancies and calf separation that her mother endured.
When cows and calves are left together, free to live out their natural lives, they can form strong bonds that last a lifetime.
WARNING: This video contains footage which some viewers may find distressing. A calf’s natural instinct, like that of most babies, is to drink their mother’s milk and remain close by their side. Born into an industry that deems them worthless, many thousands of male ‘bobby’ calves are taken and sent to slaughter every year.
2. Some Australian dairy farms have begun shifting towards factory farming, confining cows in barns to maximise ‘output’.
Dairy production is resource-intensive. As shown in the recently released documentary MILKED, it’s not just cows who are suffering for dairy – some long-standing small dairy farmers and the environment are suffering too. It takes more land and water to produce one litre of dairy milk than animal-friendly alternatives like almond, oat, or soy.
Frighteningly, some dairy farms see factory farming cows as a ‘solution’ to reduce resource use while increasing profits. Like pigs confined in barren crates and hens trapped in battery cages, holding cows in crowded indoor barns ignores the holistic needs of these thinking, feeling animals. As with any factory farm, this cruel system denies cows the things that make life worth living.
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3. Just like our companion animals, cows are individuals who have best friends.
Most people see herds of cows in fenced off paddocks, and few are lucky enough to spend quality time with them. It might surprise you to learn that cows each have unique personalities and intricate social lives. Not only do cows form friendships and have besties, but research also shows they can become stressed when separated from them.
Beyond the mother-calf bond, cows will also form cooperative grooming partnerships with other members of their group, indicating they have favoured friends.
Sadly, when the milk production of a cow slows or she fails to become pregnant, she is often considered ‘spent’ by the dairy industry and sent to a slaughterhouse – her natural lifespan cut short, and the strong bonds she shares with others, broken.
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4. Cows have been ‘modified’ by the industry over just a few decades to produce thousands more litres of milk than is natural.
Over the last 40 years, humans have selectively bred the cows used for dairy in Australia to (on average) double the milk they produce each year – from 2,848 litres per year in 1980, to 6,170 litres in 2019–20.
To maximise profits, the dairy industry not only continuously impregnates cows and takes away their babies, but also seeks ways to manipulate their bodies and provide supplementary high protein feeding to make more and more milk. Such extreme milk production forced on them by selective breeding leaves cows vulnerable to suffering a painful udder infection called mastitis.
The current food system only values animals in terms of what they produce for us, and it is a system we inherited from those who came before us. The good news is we have the power to change it
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It’s simple to swap out dairy for kinder alternatives
As consumer demand perpetuates the dairy industry and its cruel practices, our individual actions are powerful. With almost effortless changes to the way we eat, we can create a more compassionate world where cows and calves are seen for who they are, instead of what they produce.
In almost any recipe – from beverages to creamy sauces and cakes – dairy products can be swapped for a delicious, animal-friendly alternative. And when it comes to calcium, several plant-based sources tick this nutrient box – so you can be sure that while eating kindly for animals, you are also looking after your health!
Pledge to be dairy-free today, and help change the future for these sensitive, social animals.
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Safe from the dairy industry at last, rescued cow Petal is finally free to bond and care for one of her calves – as all mother cows should be. Head here to see Petal’s story, and the moving video of her new life at an animal sanctuary.
