The Rise of Cow Mega Farms Is Concerning – But There Are No Good Dairy Farms
The news that intensive dairy farming had more than doubled in the last 10 years recently made headlines, with researchers warning of the rise of “battery cows” in the UK.
There are now at least 180 farms permanently confining cows indoors, up from 70 in 2015. Mega dairies, which house more than 700 animals, have also increased to 40 nationwide. There are 16 farms with more than 1,000 cows, every one a unique individual with thoughts and feelings.
When the Bureau of Investigative Journalism published these findings, some called for “higher welfare” labelling. Much like free-range labels that mislead well-meaning consumers, no label can change the fact that whether indoors or outdoors, dairy production is horrifically cruel.
Dairy Marketing Is a Lie
The dairy industry has spent decades deceiving consumers, inundating us with bucolic images of rosy-cheeked farmers milking smiling cartoon cows in big green fields, and a shocking number of adults still don’t realise that for cows to produce milk they have to have a baby.
No Good Dairy Farms
Cows are mammals, just like humans. They produce milk for their babies, just like humans. This means that, just like humans, they must be pregnant and give birth to produce milk.
From the age of around 18 months, cows are forcibly impregnated. Just a few hours after they give birth, they have their beloved baby dragged away from them, never to be seen again. Mother cows and babies will bellow and cry out for each other for days after they’re separated. If the calf is male, he will be killed, sold for veal, or raised for beef. If she is female, she will suffer the same agonising fate as her mother, and the bleak cycle of artificial insemination, pregnancy, birth, separation, and machine milking continues.
Cows kept on dairy farms frequently suffer from conditions such as mastitis (painful bacterial inflammation of the udders) and lameness (an abnormal gait resulting in disease or injury). The milk a mother cow produces for her baby is repeatedly extracted from her udders, until her milk dries up and she’s impregnated again, enduring the repeated trauma of having her baby stolen from her. Once her body wears out, she is packed off to the slaughterhouse, where she will be stunned with a captive bolt gun, often improperly, meaning she may be fully conscious when strung up by her hind legs and her throat is cut.
Almost a quarter of slaughtered “dairy cows” are pregnant when they reach the abattoir, and workers have been documented cutting live calves from their deceased mothers’ body and killing them with blows to the head.
‘High Welfare’ Dairy Is a Lie
Exploitation and death are requirements of dairy farming. This cycle of cruelty occurs regardless of whether the cows are kept in or outdoors and regardless of how many are exploited on the farm.
Caring consumers can choose from the many popular vegan milks available, from creamy oat, versatile soya, and even cashew milk! The kind choice is never the stolen milk of an exploited mother; the only label that matters is a vegan one.
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