The Dark Secrets Behind The Cow Milk Industry

1. Young calves are separated from their mothers

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One of the first things you need to know about the dairy industry is that calves are not safe from cruelty. Once a calf is born, whether it's male or female, it gets separated from its mother, often after the mother has formed a strong bond with it. She has a few hours to nurse her baby, and then it's removed, either to be slaughtered or raised as a dairy cow.

2. Many cows cannot rest

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Dairy cows spend their entire lives working for the dairy industry. Female cows are raised from birth to produce milk for human consumption, and don't get any time to rest between giving birth, being milked, and when their working lives are over, being slaughtered for milk.

3. Workers brand young calves

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Dairy cows have to be branded by farmers early on in their lives to show that they are the property of this specific dairy farm. However, the branding process can be incredibly traumatizing, and the wounds caused by branding sometimes never heal, causing painful infections.

4. Cows are often abused on farms

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Animal rights organizations have uncovered abuse violations at dairy farms across the world, from North America to Europe and South America. In one investigation, a farmhand at a large UK dairy farm was found to have violently hurt young calves and adult cows.

5. Cows are artificially inseminated so they keep producing milk

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Female cows don't just get to choose a mate and then produce milk for their young. Instead, they are forced to get pregnant. Workers forcefully inseminate female cows with bull semen in order to get them pregnant, which triggers their milk production for their young.

6. This happens every year for 3 years

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Female cows don't get a respite from being pregnant. Most dairy cows will be artificially inseminated once a year, leading to multiple calves that will be separated from their mother almost from the moment of birth. For cows, this constant pregnancy and milking can lead to health problems.

7. Male calves are unwanted and consequently killed

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What do you think happens to male calves at a dairy farm? Well, they can't produce milk, so they're completely pointless to the entire operation. So, as a solution, these baby cows are sent to the slaughter, resulting in beef or veal for human consumption. Some calves have to go on a long journey as they are exported to other countries to be slaughtered.

8. This can happen just hours after birth

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In many cases, calves are torn away from their mothers in the first minutes or hours after birth, boarding cramped vans to slaughterhouses with other unnecessary calves. In some cases, they are shot on-site at the dairy farms to save time. In any case, male cows are unnecessary as they can't provide milk, right?

9. An incredible amount of water is needed to make milk

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The operation to produce milk on a dairy farm isn't just wasteful from the perspective of the male cows, it also costs a lot of resources. For example, it takes one thousand litres of water to produce just one litre of milk - which seems like a lot of water to be put into an operation, not to mention the violent slaughter of cows.

10. Mother cows never see any of their children

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Female dairy cows are separated from their children for life, which can be a hugely traumatic event for a new mother. In some cases, female dairy cows are known to cry out for their children in the hours after they've been taken away, because the pain of them being missing is so much.

11. Cows are given hormones which can eventually cause death

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Some female dairy cows are given recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which makes them produce more milk. This dr*g can increase the risk of developing mastitis, a painful condition that can lower the life expectancy of dairy cows. While this dr*g has been banned by the EU and some other countries, the US continues to use it.

12. Milk-producing cows become lame

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We've already established that dairy cows don't get rest from working as a milk-producer. However, standing all day can also have a massive effect on their health - some cows become lame from the strain on their legs, which increases the chances that they'll be slaughtered early.

13. Cows can be left in hutches too small for them

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Many cows at dairy farms have to survive in less than ideal conditions, from not being able to go outside to standing on their hooves all day. But there's one additional thing they have to deal with: living in hutches that are too far too small for them. These cramped conditions can add to their daily pain, reducing in short lives.

14. A female cow is impregnated just 3 months after giving birth

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The need for regular production of milk in the dairy industry is huge, and that means that new mothers don't get a chance to rest before creating another life. They are usually artificially inseminated just three months after last giving birth to their baby (which she will have been forcibly separated from before being milked.)

15. Calves are fed milk replacer, while humans get their milk

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So, how do they actually raise all those baby cows that are a result of the breeding program? Well, since all the milk that they should get is going to, you know, human beings, young calves are actually fed a milk replacer. This replacer is usually made with whey powder with added vitamins, though of course it doesn't compare to the real thing.

16. Male calves are kept in confined spaces

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Male calves sometimes have to wait a while before heading off to the slaughter. In these cases, and if they are being transported across country to a different farm, they are kept in incredibly cramped cages. These conditions can cause plenty of health problems, from diarrhea to pneumonia.

17. And this is for a horrific reason

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In fact, there's a reason to keep these young cows in such horrible, cramped conditions. If the young cows were allowed to run around, or even move at all, it would contribute to making the meat tough. By putting them in a small cage, they move less, and this results in a better, tenderer meat.

18. Many cows are transported distances just to be slaughtered

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While some young calves are killed on-site at the dairy farm they were born (sometimes within hours of their birth), others have to endure long-distance travel before finding rest. In these cases, they may be transported to a different country in tiny hutches, which is incredibly traumatic for these young animals.

19. Mother cows go through trauma

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Losing your child after just a few hours is an understandably traumatic event for new mothers: and it's the same for cows. Female cows have been known to cry out, bellow, or scream for their children for hours or days after the separation, and to look around for their missing child.

20. A dairy cows' lifespan is just 5 years

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And that's at the high end of the spectrum. For some female dairy cows, they will see a life of just 2.5 years thanks to terrible living conditions and the risk of illness and early death. The natural lifespan of a dairy cow not working on a dairy farm is about 20 years, so they lose about three-quarters or more of their life.

21. Cows are prevented from growing horns

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Many female dairy cows have to go through a process called disbudding. This is when a red-hot iron is pressed to the cow's head where horns should grow, which damages the flesh and prevents them from growing horns. This is usually done when the calf is just 2-6 weeks old.

22. Or their horns are violently removed

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In some cases, dehorning of cows has to take place, where the horn flesh is violently cut from the head. This removal process is extremely violent, requiring saws or sharp wires, and is completed without painkillers for most cows. Considering cows' horns are incredibly sensitive, this process can cause long-lasting pain.

23. Some calves are tethered by the neck

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While this isn't the case at all dairy farms, some organizations have uncovered evidence of young cows being tethered by the neck inside their stalls to further prevent them moving around. This tether could be a chain, or in the worst cases, a metal bar, and they are kept inside for almost their entire lives.

24. Female cows are often inseminated from the age of 15 months

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Female cows don't get a lot of time to grow up before becoming mothers. In the worst cases, female cows start to be artificially inseminated at just 15 years of age, though around 2 years is also the norm. Considering their entire life span is around 5 years, this is a horrific choice.

25. And the impregnating process isn't pretty

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Though research says that the artificial insemination process is more likely to be a success if the cow is relaxed, so often this isn't the case, and the process can be violent. The process requires a farmer to artificially release bull semen into the cow's uterus, in the process of which they will touch almost all of the cow's genital organs.

26. Cows tails are forcibly removed

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As well as horns, dairy cows have to have their tails removed too. This happens between the ages of 12-18 months, so when female dairy cows are still very young. They say this is to prevent the udders getting infected and to keep their bodies clean, but in reality it's a cruel practice that can cause long-term pain.

27. Cows are stunned when their milk production stops

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After approximately 3-5 years of being artificially inseminated and being forcibly milked every single day, a dairy cow's life is essentially over. Their production of milk dwindles, and it's no longer feasibly to artificially inseminate them to prompt production. So, they are forced into a pen and then paralysed with a stun gun to the head.

28. Then their throat is cut

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After the cow has been stunned, their throat is cut and their life is over. Their meat is normally used for beef at this point, so if you're wondering where your beef burger comes from, it's probably a dairy cow who has endured a short, painful life and was no longer of use to the dairy farm.

29. The dairy industry is responsible for a lot of greenhouse gases

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As well as using lots of water for the production of milk, dairy production also produces an incredible amount of greenhouse gases. In fact, dairy milk produces three times more emissions than plant-based milks, no matter the kind of plant based milk that you choose.

30. Cows are forced to carry 10x as much milk as normal

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With all the artificial hormones that cows are given, modern dairy cows are producing much more milk than a normal cow ever would. In some cases, they have to carry 20 litres of milk in their udders, compared to a normal maximum of about 2 litres. All this extra milk can be incredibly painful, causing mastitis and lameness.