7th April 2024 … talking about animals …
THIS WEEK’S DISCUSSION [number 8 in the series]
What's So Bad About Dairy?
Suggested by Gerry Boland, founder of and spokesperson for Animals Behind Closed Doors, advocating for appropriate rights for animals and for a vegan lifestyle (087-6397557)
RATIONALE
1
At the heart of the dairy industry is the separation of mother from her newly-born calf. (For the mother to produce milk, she must give birth to a calf every year.) In order to maximise profits, on most dairy farms the calf is removed from the mother within 24 hours of birth, and on many of these farms, the removal is carried out within hours of birth (known as ‘snatch calving’). Mother and calf have a close bond and to separate them is an extreme act of cruelty.
2
The mother cow has been selectively bred over decades to produce much larger volumes of milk daily. Forty years ago, a typical dairy cow produced 15 litres of milk per day. Dairy cows on most dairy farms today typically produce between 25 and 30 litres daily. This volume of milk places enormous physiological stress on the animal.
3
The natural lifespan of a cow is 20 years. In the dairy industry today, cows are sent for slaughter at 5-6 years, after 3 or 4 lactations. Essentially, the animals are spent, worn out after successive pregnancies followed by the daily production and automated removal of her milk.
4
Bacterial infections, such as hoof lesions, sole ulcers, laminitis and digital dermatitis, are common and are usually caused by the cows standing for long periods on concrete floors, but also by ineffective foot trimming and by inadequate nutrition. Mastitis (inflammation of the udder), common in dairy cows, occurs when the udder becomes infected, usually as a result of contaminated milking equipment or bedding.
5
The mother cow is slaughtered at 5 or 6 years, either because the quality of the milk she is producing has dropped below industry and consumer standards, or because she has developed acute mastitis or lameness, or because she is simply worn out. Her thanks for producing vast volumes of milk (which, in nature, is for her calf and not for us) is a trip to the brutality of the slaughterhouse.
6
The mother cow gives birth to male and female calves. Some females go on to become milk producers for the farmer; the rest are exported, slaughtered, or reared for beef. The males have no use on a dairy farm and are dispensed with in one of the following ways:
a) 200,000 are shipped abroad on lengthy journeys by truck and by ship. Most end up on veal farms in the Netherlands, where they are kept in barren pens and fed a low-iron diet to keep their flesh pale. A significant number are sent to Spain, from where they are shipped to north Africa to be slaughtered for beef.
b) Many are brought to the local mart and sold for cheap beef for as little as €5 per animal.
c) Some (figures are difficult to obtain) are killed immediately after birth, on the farm.
d) Some are killed at birth and dumped illegally in remote areas.
7
Approximately 750,000 male calves are born in Ireland each year, all of them unwanted by a ruthless, exploitative and heartless industry.
8
While there will always be a need for human milk substitutes, there are serious ethical issues about the marketing of modified cow milk, i.e. Formula. This is the most lucrative aspect of the dairy industry, packaged as ‘Green Love’ and fed to 10% of the world's infants. Depriving infants of human milk has health implications for babies and also for their mothers; this is most apparent in countries with low incomes and poor sanitation and is the reason the Nestle Boycott still stands to this day.
THE OPTIMAL ANIMAL WELFARE POSITION
Allow all calves to stay with their mothers for a minimum period of 3 months (Calf at Foot). Reduce the number of pregnancies of all dairy cows and allow a longer period of rest between each one. Ban live exports of all calves.
THE ANIMAL RIGHTS POSITION
Cows produce milk for their offspring, not for us. Humans are not physiologically designed to consume the milk of a cow, and indeed a significant proportion of the world’s population do not drink milk as they are lactose intolerant. Plant-based milks are the future and Ireland needs to jump on board and stop supporting and promoting an industry that has no future.
THE FIVE FREEDOMS is a five-point framework and is at the heart of animal welfare legislation in many developed countries, Ireland included.
The Five Freedoms should, in theory, provide for a life worth living for every animal. Slaughtering cows at 5 years after an intense few years of physiological and emotional stress is not offering these young animals a life worth living. Removing a calf from its mother and sending it for slaughter or a short life in the veal industry is not a life worth living.
ANIMAL SENTIENCE – All farmed animals are sentient, that is, they experience a wide range of emotions and can feel pain, just like us. We know this, and yet we turn a blind eye. We can do
better.
We must do better.
I am happy to discuss this issue on air, also more than willing to debate with an industry representative.
Gerry Boland
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