Improving Welfare in the Dairy Industry
Dairy cows operate in a separate industry. If you wondered why vegans don’t drink milk or eat cheese, it’s because around 95,000 male calves each year are shot at birth, as they have no financial value – or are exported for veal.
Shooting calves is decreasing as people become aware (some are now raised for beef). But in nature, mothers would wean their calves for up to 2 years, and often near farms you can hear their haunting calls throughout the night, pining for their babies.
Cows obviously have to give birth to produce milk. Most are artificially inseminated, then produce milk for 3 years before being slaughtered.
Drink Milk? Choose Organic
Most milk is from intensive farms. So if you drink dairy milk, go for organic brands with free-range cows who hopefully don’t have calves removed at a young age. This website lists dairies that let calves stay with their mothers.
Industrial dairy farming also leads to many issues like painful mastitis (udder inflammation) that can affect most of a herd. It’s mostly caused by being housed indoors for long periods, contamination of milking equipment or bedding, and lack of rest.
Injecting dairy cows with regular antibiotics leads to them being less effective (and creates issues for us – some people believe some hormonal cancers are increased in people who eat a lot of dairy).
Or Drink Oat Milk Instead!
Another way to help is to financially support farm sanctuaries (not the same as ‘city farms’) but instead volunteers give loving homes to barnyard friends who have been neglected or abused. Or drink oat milk instead.
Help (not judgement) for Cattle Farmers
Read our post on help for farmers (and their cows & calves), which covers info on preventing bovine TB, mastitis and transfarmation (where dairy farmers transition over to farming oats, and leave animals to live out lives in peace – this can also save long-held family farms).
The Farming Community Network is an umbrella of charities that have helplines for struggling farmers. From providing free feed to livestock to offering help with finances and tenancy.
