"The human body has no more need for cows' milk than it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk or giraffes' milk."

—Michael Klapper, M.D.

When you think of dairy industry advertising you think of contented cows with full bellies grazing happily through lush green pastures.

Perhaps more than any other animal production industry the reality behind milk production is unknown by the community.

Dairy cows do not automatically produce milk as many in the community believe.  They are no different from the female of any species—they produce milk to feed their young after giving birth.

As a result, dairy cows are kept almost continually pregnant.  Few realise that the milk that ends up in cartons at the supermarket has actually been produced by dairy cows to feed their calves and is then extended by artificial milking.

So what happens to the calf? Within a day of their birth calves are removed from their mother so that she can continue to provide milk for human consumption, resulting in a distressed and grieving cow and a frightened and bewildered calf facing the world on its own.

Unwanted dairy calves as young as 5 days old are trucked to saleyards and slaughterhouses.  Some 1 million dairy calves (less than a week old) are slaughtered each year as ‘by-products’ of the dairy industry. The lining of the fourth stomach of the calves contains a substance known as rennet. It is used as a coagulant of milk in the process of making cheese. Calves’ crushed bones are used in some designer dog biscuits.

Find out more about the lives of dairy cows in this fact sheet.

 

See also:Fact Sheet: Dairy Cows

Few people realise that the dairy industry is responsible for massive animal suffering and the continual premature and distressing separation of days-old calves from their mothers.

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