Dairy Cows – Nature for my Soul

The Heartbreaking Reality:

It is impossible to have an ethical dairy farm. Dairy cows go through 4 or 5 cycles of rape, forced pregnancy, birth, having their calves stolen from them again and again, usually within 24 hours, never getting to nurse or love their babies, forced milking by machines multiple times per day for 5 or 6 years until they are “spent”, at which point they’re sent to slaughter.

The teat-cups of a milking machine hang attached to a cow’s udder at a dairy farm. The vacuum suction of milking machines and programs in place on dairy farms to increase milk production cause the udders of dairy cows to grow abnormally large. 2022. Havva Zorlu / We Animals

The Industry Propaganda:

Milk does a body good. Milk is filled with calcium and vitamin D and you can’t live a healthy life without it! Dairy cows are bad Mothers. They would die if they weren’t milked! Dairy cows are treated ethically! NONE of this is true! (Read science resources below)

The Facts:

Female cows only have milk after giving birth, just like humans and other mammals. Dairy cows carry their babies for 9 months.

Except unlike human babies, cow babies are stolen from their Mothers, usually within 24 hours of giving birth. The Mama cows cry for their lost babies and the babies cry for their Mothers.

A calf desperately calls for his Mother. Photo by Gabriela Penela / We Animals

Mama cows will be hooked up to machines that will take their milk several times each day. Most baby cows never taste their Mother’s milk, and certainly don’t get to enjoy her love and affection.

A newborn calf, taken away from her mother, lies in a wheelbarrow before being wheeled away to a veal crate at a dairy farm. Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals

If they are male calves, they are either shot in the head shortly after their birth, or sent to veal farms where they will be chained in tiny huts where they will live alone until 6 -8 months when they can be slaughtered. Veal is a fancy name for a baby cow. Veal calves are isolated from other cows, never able to play, get to know their Mother, or even be free to move around.

Cows stand inside computerized milking stalls on a 60-stall rotating carousel on this country’s largest dairy farm. This fully automated system operates 24 hours daily, with two workers present to handle the cows and oversee the milking process. 2021. Andrew Skowron / We Animals

Female dairy cows live a life of imprisonment. The suffering of those innocent females is unimaginable. They are forced to become pregnant again and again. Know how? According to Farm Sanctuary.org, “Cows are artificially inseminated in a narrow holding pen known as a “rape rack,” using a device called an artificial injection gun. In an op-ed in the LA Times, Peter Lovenheim acknowledged the way the dairy industry abuses and exploits female cows as a feminist issue, based on his years spent observing a modern dairy operation as a journalist and writer. When a female of any species is tied into her feed rack with her head locked with a stanchion while a 3-foot metal gun is inserted into her anus and eventually her cervix—along with the arm of the person holding the gun—it is difficult to call it anything other than abuse.”

A veterinarian reaches their arm inside the rectum of a dairy cow while performing an artificial insemination procedure at a dairy farm. Artificial insemination is used to impregnate dairy cows so that they continue to produce milk. Havva Zorlu / We Animals

Humans have bred dairy cows to produce unnaturally high amounts of milk so that the females suffer from numerous painful conditions such as mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary glands. The cow Mamas are often so heavy with milk that they cannot walk and sometimes need to be hoisted by a giant machine into a standing position, or must endure chains around their back legs.

Most dairy cows are subjected to a life of confinement, spending their days in crowded and unsanitary conditions. They are often denied the opportunity to graze on grass, which is a natural behavior essential for their well-being. Instead, they are often confined to concrete stalls or indoor pens, causing immense physical and emotional distress.

Thousands of cattle mill about or huddle under shade structures at a large cattle ranch where they spend the last few months of their lives before going to slaughter. Coalinga, California, USA, 2022. Vince Penn / We Animals This cattle ranch is one of the largest feedlots in the United States. According to their website, they generate more than $600 million selling cattle every year, with an annual processing capacity of 120,000 animals, who come from ranches across the western states to be fattened for slaughter. The site is almost 800 acres (3.2 square kilometers); for perspective, this is almost as large as Central Park in New York City. The smell of the site can be overpowering.

Mama cows are given a slew of antibiotics — all of which eventually wind up in the milk and products humans make from their milk. This is leading to antibiotic resistance.

Udder flaming is a dairy farming practice where workers run blowtorches under the udders of cows to burn off their little hairs. This helps to facilitate the work of the sucking machines designed to imitate a calf and trick the cows bodies into giving milk. If this sounds painful, dangerous and horrific, it’s because it is!

Cows can live to be 20 years old.

Gene Baur and Opie at Farm Sanctuary. Gene rescued Opie from a pile of dead animals when he was a calf. Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, New York, USA, 2007. Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

Cows feel and exhibit a range of emotions. They have best friends, show affection and joy just like our beloved dogs. Mothers and their offspring have strong bonds that last throughout their lives, when they are given the chance.

Friends at Farm Sanctuary. Watkins Glen, New York, USA, 2012. Jo-Anne McArthur / The Ghosts In Our Machine / We Animals. Farm Sanctuary was co-founded by Gene Baur and Lorri Houston in 1986 when they rescued Hilda, their first sheep. It was the first sanctuary of its kind, focusing wholly on rescuing and advocating for animals farmed for food.

The worst part of all of this is that MILK IS NOT NECESSARY! We do not need milk, or anything in milk, to be healthy. Don’t believe me? I’m not surprised because the dairy industry has done a remarkable job of making you believe otherwise. “Got Milk” or “Milk Does a Body Good,” and many other slogans created over the years have resulted in people thinking milk is essential for health. But it’s not! Please consider the possibility that you’ve been lied to your entire life. (Just like years ago with regards to cigarettes) You don’t need cow’s milk when you’re a kid, a teenager, an adult, or a woman going through menopause.

You can live a perfectly healthy life without milk, as you can get your calcium from green leafy vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, kale, okra, soy, as well as from legumes, and nuts. The biggest mammal on land– the elephant –gets all of their nutrients through plants and so can humans! The strongest land mammal–the gorilla–also eats only vegetables and greens. Most every vegan–including me and my husband– has said at one time in their previous life, “I could never go vegan!” But once you learn the truth, it’s not hard.

Take Action! What YOU Can Do:

Stop buying into the propaganda! Stop consuming milk and other dairy products. Have the courage to align your values with your actions, instead of supporting this cruelty. Go vegan.
How to go vegan
Replacing eggs in recipes
Watch Cowspiracy.
Watch Earthlings
Watch Dominion
Farm to Fridge
Good For Us: Eating Veg
Share what you’ve learned with everyone you know! Change happens one person at a time and every single person can make a difference.