From cow insemination to family separation, the global dairy industry is built on cruelty. These five photos are lifting the curtain…
As consumers learn more about their favorite food products, the dairy industry is coming under increased scrutiny. Concerns about animals have many wondering: What really happens on dairy farms?
Animal Equality’s global investigations have pulled back the curtain on the dairy industry. In 2019, investigators found frozen newborn calves dumped in piles on a farm in the United States. Some had their hooves separated from their feet.
The farm is linked to Babybel, a household brand. The discovery raises a larger question: What else could the industry be hiding?
The truth is, even when farms comply with the law, suffering persists in the system. Here’s why:
1. Cows and calves are separated at birth.
Like humans, cows only produce milk after giving birth. To maintain the milk flow, farmers artificially inseminate cows about once a year.
A strong bond forms between mother and calf soon after birth. Within a day or two, the mother cow will be separated from her calf. She will cry for days over her missing calf.
In many cases, a mother cow will run after her calf as it is dragged away. Once separated, the calf is fed milk replacer while the dairy industry takes its mother’s milk for profit.
2023, Animal Equality collaboration with American actress Richa Moorjani published an investigative report on the global dairy industry.
In India, investigators found workers stuffing dead calves with hay and placing them next to their mothers, an attempt to stimulate milk production, which slows or stops when the mother is separated from the calf.
2. Forced insemination of cows
Once separated from her mother, a female calf is trapped in the same cycle of reproduction over and over again. Every time she gives birth, she is separated from her calf. Just as her mother cried for her, she mourns each calf she loses.
Once separated, the mother cow is hooked up to a milking machine multiple times a day. Many cows suffer injuries and infections due to these unnatural milking methods.
Animal Equality investigators have documented this endless cycle, exposing the cruelty of the dairy industry for the world to see.
By supporting Animal Equality’s investigations, business outreach and legislative campaigns, you can break this vicious cycle and end suffering on dairy farms.
BECOME AN ANIMAL PROTECTOR
Help fund Animal Equality’s work to expose and end animal cruelty. Protect cows, pigs, chickens and other animals today!
3. Male calves are killed for veal.
A male calf is considered useless to the dairy industry because it cannot produce milk. If it is not raised and sold for beef, it will likely be sold to the veal industry.
There he would be confined in a cramped crate. The farmers would deliberately restrict his movements to keep his flesh tender, feeding him a diet low in iron to keep his flesh white. After a life of suffering, weakness, and loneliness, he would be slaughtered.
4. Cows are mutilated without anesthesia.
Cows that are not bred to be hornless are often “dehorned.” Typically, workers cut the horns—which are filled with sensitive nerve endings and blood—off the animals’ heads. Others burn away the cows’ delicate horn tissue.
Cows were also “branded” with hot irons, and their tails were painfully cut off (or “amputated”). They endured all of this without anesthesia.
5. Cows from dairy farms are killed for their meat.
A cow in the dairy industry suffers all her life. Eventually, her body will become exhausted from the stress of constant milking. The dairy industry may even use heavy machinery to lift her exhausted body off the ground.
Once considered “finished” at around age five, a cow faces a fate similar to that of animals in the meat industry. It is loaded onto a truck and transported to a slaughterhouse so its meat can be sold at the grocery store.
How you can help cows used for milk
The good news is that saving cows from cruelty is easier than ever. From creamy oat milk to cashew yogurt, dairy-free alternatives are popping up on most grocery store shelves.
At Love Veg, we’re opening up a whole new world of delicious, compassionate options. Whether you’re creating your grocery list or browsing restaurant menus, we’re here to help.
Millions of people are already replacing dairy, meat, and eggs with cruelty-free products. Are you ready to join them today?
PROTECT MOTHERHOOD
The cow’s maternal instinct fosters a gentle bond with her vulnerable calf.
Maintain this gentle relationship by choosing plant-based alternatives to dairy products.
