The Staggering Rise of Dairy Factory Farming in the UK – as Experts Warn of ‘Battery Cows’
There’s a good chance your milk came from a cow confined in a filthy, cramped mega farm with hundreds or even thousands of others.
Investigators from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism have warned that the number of UK farms permanently confining cows indoors has more than doubled in the last 10 years. There were 70 in 2015, but there are now at least 180.
Mega farms, with more than 700 cows, have exploded across the countryside. There are 40 in total, with 16 confining more than 1,000 cows. One housed as many as 2,600. Hotspots for large dairy farms include Cornwall, Cheshire, Devon, and Dorset.
Despite this huge rise in what investigators described as “battery cows,” most consumers have no idea where their milk comes from. These dirty, overcrowded industrial units are a far cry from the bucolic imagery of happy cows in green fields so often presented by the dairy industry.
No Such Thing as Ethical Dairy
While the findings of the new investigation are hugely concerning, the public shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that only mega farms are the problem. Farms where cows are allowed outside are also horrifically cruel to animals.
As mammals, cows make milk for their babies, just like dogs, rats, and humans do. From the age of around 15 months, cows are forcibly impregnated and give birth over and over again, only to have the babies they love taken away shortly after birth. Being separated and denied the opportunity to nurture is traumatising for both mother and baby, who often cry out for each other for days. Once their exhausted bodies give up, they’re sent to slaughter.
Don’t Support Mega Farms – Go Vegan!
Intensive dairies aren’t the only factory farms on the rise. Chickens and pigs, the vast majority of whom are factory farmed, are languishing behind doors of huge facilities all over the country. They are mutilated, crammed in cages, and forced to live in filth for their short, miserable lives. Some mega farms raising chicken for meat hold over a hundred million birds at a time.
If you want to avoid contributing to this animal suffering, going vegan is the answer. Find out how to drop animals from your diet with our free Vegan Starter Kit.
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