Dairy Is Scary, The Abuse of Mother Cows

The Things We Love to Know

• Cows are highly social animals! They have best friends and become stressed when they are separated from each other. Cows will isolate themselves only when they are sick or about to give birth.
• Cows love to sleep close to their families and even have special sleeping arrangements based on hierarchy.
• Cows have a keen sense of smell. They can detect scents up to 6 miles away, which helps with predator detection.
• Cows lay down a lot, about 10-12 hours/day, but they actually only sleep about 4. Unlike horses, who can sleep standing up, cows will lay down for their naps.
• Cows are good swimmers.
• Based on studies that monitored heart rate and brain activity, they become excited when they solve problems.
• In most Hindu cultures, they are considered sacred animals. They take part in holidays, festivals, and there may even be incarceration time associated with harming or killing cows.
• Cows don’t see red, so when you see a cow charging at the waving red flag- it’s because of the movement, not the color.
• Cows have four compartments in their stomachs.
• Cow tipping is a myth.
• Cows are devoted mothers and will walk for miles and miles to find their babies.
• They are very curious animals and like to investigate.
• Ghandi described a cow as “a poem of compassion”, also stating that “I worship the cow and I shall defend its worship against the whole world”.

The Hard Truth

• Dairy cows have to be pregnant and give birth to a baby cow to produce milk for humans to drink, just like human women.
• Cows are pregnant for approximately 9 months, just like human women. 
• Momma cows will give birth, keep their baby for only a few days, then watch as that baby is taken away. They will cry for their babies and chase the trucks taking them away. They will bellow and call for them hours after they are gone.
• Her baby’s milk is harvested for humans. She won’t see her baby again. She will be milked several times a day to keep milk production high, as if her baby was nursing.
• If the mother cow gives birth to a girl, she will likely be raised to be forcibly impregnated like her mother. If she has a boy, he will most likely be raised to become veal in just a few months. If not veal, he will be shipped to a factory to be raised to 5-7 months old before becoming beef. 
• Mother dairy cows may be killed themselves for food when they are 5-6 years old. For years, they live in a cycle of pregnancy and birth until their bodies are spent. Sometimes they are killed sooner because of mastitis and infertility <conditions known amongst human mothers as well> and lameness. Lameness occurs due to malnutrition and poor living conditions.
• Animals in the meat and dairy industry suffer a standard procedure called dehorning. This means the horn tissue is either burned or cut out of their heads with caustic paste. 
• Slaughterhouse workers report 25% of cows <minimum> pass through fully conscious- this happens when the bolt gun does not make the cow unconscious, so they scream and flail while they are shackled by their back feet upside down and their throats are slit. Here’s a caveat: I rarely watch slaughterhouse videos anymore, I simply can’t bear it. One of the most horrifying I’ve ever seen is exactly what I’ve described above and an image that will live with me for the rest of my life.
• Slaughterhouse workers also report limbs are cut off of animals fully conscious (fully conscious as in blinking, making noises, heads moving, looking around), because slowing down production to fully make the animal unconscious is not allowed due to production standards and the risk of losing their jobs.
• Uncooperative animals who arrive at the slaughterhouse and refuse to get off the trucks are beaten and have prods poked up their rectums. 
• The majority of cows farmed across the world are reared in intensive farming systems which can cause them to suffer greatly.
• Meat and dairy industries are among the most powerful in this world. They have unparalleled amounts of money and lobbying among politicians to ensure their products continue to be sold. But these are the realities of our food choices. Who has an agenda? Could it be the meat and dairy industry who stand to make estimated $156 billion?

I share this post to close out World Breastfeeding Week to raise awareness for the exploited mothers in the dairy industry, the dairy cows. As millions of people clamber to consume the breastmilk of cows, I challenge you to ask yourself why? And how has that become so normalized over time?

Check out these resources for more information:

1. Things you didn’t know about cows
2. Amazing facts about cows
3. The Role of Meat and Dairy Viruses in Cancer – short video
4. The Effects of Hormones in Dairy Milk on Cancer – short video
5. Cowspiracy – documentary
6. The Milk System– documentary
7. What The Health– documentary

In an upcoming post, I will share my favorite dairy alternatives. So yummy, you won’t even miss the dairy cow version!

Check out my Compassionate Recipes page to find some delicious food that leaves dairy out of the equation <3

Finally, I appeal to your heart, please be a voice for these mothers.