The milk of human cruelty
There is tremendous suffering associated with the dairy industry. Most dairy cows are killed at
8-10 years of age, though their natural lifespan is 25 years. The dairy industry is closely integrated with the meat industry, with around a million male dairy calves are slaughtered for meat every year. Up to 55 per cent of all beef produced is from cattle bred for the dairy industry.
The life of a cow is not as natural and peaceful as you might think. 80 percent of cows are artificially inseminated with sperm from genetics companies - only cows who fail to become pregnant artificially get to mate with a bull. During her short life, each cow endures a continuous cycle of pregnancy and lactation, producing on average over 3,700 litres of milk during the milking season, and giving birth to 4-10 calves. When the calf is only a few days old (sometimes only a few hours old), he or she is taken away, and either sent to slaughter immediately, or reared in a calf paddock. “Bobby calves” suffer terribly on their journey to slaughter. Transported as young as 4 days of age, they endure cold and hunger, fasting for up to 30 hours, while struggling to maintain their footing in the cattle truck.
Many dairy cows suffer from lameness due to walking long distances to be milked, or from standing on hard concrete. Lameness is an agonizing condition, and sometimes cows are too much pain to stand.
Around a quarter of New Zealand dairy cows suffer from mastitis at some time in their lives. A cow’s udder may become so inflamed that it is as hard as a stone, and blood bubbles into her milk, which becomes clotted and watery. Severe cases of mastitis can kill a cow in 24 hours.
Many dairy cows live in bare paddocks without shelter, and suffer from heat in summer and cold winds in winter. In wet winter conditions, cows are often confined in cramped “stand-off areas” or “sacrifice paddocks” to prevent pasture damage by their hooves.
New Zealand herds often contain over 300 cows, and sometimes up to 3,000 cows. These large herd sizes are stressful, as each cow can only easily relate to up to 100 other animals. In large herds, cows become tense and aggressive. With the recent expansion of dairy farming in the South Island, numbers of lactating cows and calves have increased dramatically. Farms have become large corporate structures, where profits are paramount. There is little room for concern about the welfare of the animals.
For more information about the dairy industry, and about how to avoid cruelly produced dairy products, see:
Animal Welfare and the Beef and Dairy Industry
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~nezumi1/beef&dairy.html
New Zealand Vegetarian Society
Meat Free Media