Help Cows Exploited for Milk and Cheese
Cows produce milk for the same reason humans do: to nourish their babies. But in the dairy industry, they’re repeatedly impregnated to keep the milk supply flowing. Calves are taken from their mother’s side shortly after birth, and the milk intended for them is instead shipped off for humans to drink. Even though a cow’s natural lifespan is about 20 years, they’re typically killed after just five years on dairy farms, after their bodies have worn out.
From this page, you’ll be able to complete multiple PETA action alerts to help cows suffering in the dairy industry. Keep reading to learn more, or click the button below to get started:
Cows on dairy farms are subjected to painful mutilations, including dehorning. Farmers remove their horns (or the tissue that would turn into horns) using guillotine dehorners, sharp wires, hot irons, or caustic chemicals—all without providing the animals with any pain relief. A dairy-industry study found that by the time they’re killed, nearly 50% of cows are lame as a result of having been forced to stand on concrete floors and filth in intensive confinement. To learn more about the way farmers keep cows pregnant, watch the video below:
Did you know that the average cow today produces more than four times as much milk as a cow did in 1950? Through the use of intensive milking regimes (in which mother cows are usually hooked up to milking machines two or more times a day) and sometimes drugs, the animals’ reproductive systems are pushed to the limit and they’re forced to produce much more milk than they naturally would. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 16.5% of cows used for their milk suffer from mastitis—a painful inflammation of the udder—which is one of the leading causes of death for adult cows in the dairy industry.
Because male calves are useless to dairy farmers, they’re taken from their mothers when they’re less than a day old. Most are kept alone in cramped pens or crates, longing for the comfort of their mothers, until they’re shipped to slaughter to be made into veal. Frightened, sick, and lonely, these calves are killed after only a few months of life so that their flesh can be sold. As a consumer, you can choose not to support these cruel practices. It’s easier than ever to go vegan, and we’ve got plenty of tips and tools to help you do it!
Every year, 30 million cows are shipped to slaughterhouses and killed.
You can help stop this cruelty today, and we can help you get started.
If you want to be an all-star for animals, there are tons of ways to get more involved. Follow PETA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to stay up to date on our latest campaigns. Subscribe to PETA News to get weekly updates on our efforts. And be sure to complete the PETA action alerts below—with the quick click of a button, they’ll allow you to speak up for cows in the dairy industry.
—Take Action for Cows—
There are multiple opportunities to help. As soon as you take one action below, another will automatically appear in its place.
Just enter your information once. Then keep clicking the “Send Message” button until you’ve completed every action. Once you’ve finished, be sure to share this page with your friends, family members, and social media followers. Encourage them to join you in helping stop the abuse of cows in the dairy industry.