No ‘Humane’ Dairy Products Here

There is no such thing as ‘humane’ dairy and we ask you not to promote it. When you advocate for welfare reforms that result in ‘humane’ dairy products you are actively participating in:

  • RAPE — the violation of a cow’s reproductive organs.
  • KIDNAP — the removal of her newborn calves so that the milk she produces for them can be sold for human consumption.
  • MURDER — the ultimate slaughter of all of her babies and herself. No farm animal dies a natural death. They all end up at the slaughterhouse once the cost of feeding them outweighs the income they bring in.

We have no right to exploit cows just because they are a different species of mammal than we are. To say that we are doing cows a service by bringing them into this world to exploit them, is to deny that they are living beings who have a right to life, the right to autonomy over their life and the right to bodily integrity.

All Of Her Calves Are Ultimately Killed

Many dairy farmers claim not to kill the calves of their dairy cows. However, simple mathematics proves their statements to be at best misleading and at worst pure fabrication.

Loving mother cow licking her newborn calf in their last precious moments together. Please go vegan to stop the slaughter of calves and exploitation of their mothers. Photo © iStock HermanWieten.

  • The only reason calves are ‘bred’ is so that their mothers will produce milk. It stands to reason that the farmers will not let the calf drink all of their mother’s milk, but rather take the calf away from his mother so that they can sell the milk for human consumption. This happens anywhere between hours and months after birth. The time-lapse is irrelevant, tearing mother and child apart is always inevitable.
  • Consider that dairy cows are impregnated from the age of 2 years old every 12-13 months for between 6 and 8 years, and that they sometimes give birth to twins. At an average of say 1.3 calves per birthing, then 1 cow will give birth to between 5 to 10 calves during her lifetime.
  • No dairy farmer is willing or able to increase their dairy herd at these exponential rates. That would mean they would be buying up land on either side of their farms to house the extra cattle. Only 1 female calf is required to replace her mother and she is selected 2 years before her mother is slaughtered.
  • That leaves between 4 and 9 calves – per dairy cow – who are not required in the farmer’s dairy herd. The herd would be more than doubling every year. If the farmer has a herd of 500 cows, that would mean at least 2,000 extra calves every 4 years! Half of them would be useless to him as they would be males.
  • The only economic value a male dairy cow has is the sale of his muscles and flesh for veal, his hide for leather, his bones and ligaments for gelatine and the rest of his young body is rendered for processed meat and pet food. The only reason a farmer would have for not killing him immediately is where he has calculated a method of increasing his profit by fattening the veal calf up for longer before slaughtering him.
  • All of the male calves and all of the female calves who are not used to replace the herd, will be sold at live auction and ultimately slaughtered.
  • Just using figures from the USDA, in 2011, 2.9 million dairy cows were slaughtered and 838,800 veal calves were slaughtered. All due to the dairy industry. Imagine extrapolating those figures for worldwide consumption.

Why Being Vegan is the Only Solution

We do not need to drink milk. More importantly YOU do not need to drink milk. Being vegan and giving up dairy is very easy when you really want to. There are many dairy substitutes and recipes for plant-based milk and cheese. It might be a little inconvenient for us, but it is salvation from a lifetime of physical and emotional pain for the mother cows and their calves.

You can stop participating in the violent assault of a cow’s intimate reproductive organs and processes right now. You can stop invading her privacy and violating her maternal bonds. You can stop stealing the milk she produces for her calves. Turn your attention from what the rest of the world is doing and take a moment to look at yourself. If you profess to ‘love’ animals, yet still participate in the absolutely unnecessary rape, kidnap and slaughter of cows and calves; then you need to go vegan. Consuming so-called ‘humane’ dairy products is not being kind. Being vegan is the only way you can honestly look into the eyes of a cow and say “I care about you”.

Of course change will not happen overnight.
However YOU can go vegan overnight.

Yes some people will turn away when we offer them the vegan option. That does not mean we will ever champion the domestication and needless exploitation of animals no matter how ‘humane’ they profess it to be. Veganism is the peaceful solution to the violence perpetrated on animals every day. It is the only solution. Anything less is a betrayal of the trust they place in us to save them from this hellish existence. We are being condescending when we call it a ‘life’. It is not a life worth living.

It costs us so little to go vegan. In fact it is far healthier for our own bodies and for the planet. Please contact me if you need more information, support or advice on being vegan.

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