Aannsha
( 1/26/2007 8:52:55 PM )
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Cow's milk
I've been researching the horrors of animal rearing for food and have made the decision to become a vegetarian. Was one for 7 years and lapsed for 8 years - now I'm coming back with a broader awareness of the issues.
I live in Queensland.
My husband made the remark "what about the cows in the fields that we see - are they badly treated somewhere, or are they reared by caring farmers?" Which made me wonder and came up with a question.
My question is about dairy cows in Australia. Are they all treated badly? Are there any farms that raise and milk cows (maybe organic) that would produce milk that is decently produced from humanely treated animals?
If there are any ethical dairy cow producers/products, would someone let me know please?
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Sophia (Veg Action)
( 1/28/2007 2:34:07 AM )
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Re: Cow's milk
Your question is a good one and not easy to answer in a few words.
We don't have detailed information about dairy farming in Australia, for example what percentage of cows are intensively farmed (these would be cows kept in crowded 'feedlot' sheds, as opposed to those you see in the fields). We would love to find this kind of information and would love to know of any research that anyone is aware of. Feedlots, like any form of intensive farming, see animals kept in horrific conditions with tens of thousands of animals in one facility (33,000 in one feedlot that we know of in NSW), require large amounts of antibiotics due to the unhygienic nature of crowded conditions, deny animals light and space to move, etc.
Not all dairy animals in Australia are intensively farmed. In particular, there are certified Organic dairy producers. The Organic label requires, among other things, that animals don't receive antibiotics, growth promotants, etc and this in itself entails that they can't be kept in feedlot conditions. Effectively organically farmed dairy (and meat) cows will be found in the fields.
However, there are a number of animal welfare or cruelty issues attached to dairy farming regardless of whether animals appear to be grazing happily in fields or are kept in feedlots. For example, dairy cows in order to produce milk must be kept on a punishing cycle of pregnancy, birth and lactation throughout their lifetime (they produce a calf each year and continue lactating for 10 months after each birth). After a human-like process of gestation and birth, the milk - which the cow has produced for its young (not actually for us!) - is diverted for human use, while the calf is killed or fattened for meat or becomes a dairy animal in its turn.
There are other issues such as the lack of shade in a large proportion of the "fields" in which these animals are kept, as you can observe while driving about the countryside here in Australia.
Because the female cows are only half the picture for this industry to be viable, procedures such as branding, dehorning, castration, continual pregnancy, separation of mother and young, transportation and slaughter - to name but a few - are all part of the cruelty inherent in dairy farming, even using traditional methods.
In addition it's important to note that as with the production of any kind of food from animals, the uneconomical nature of the process (in terms of getting back much less food than we invest in the animal) means that to produce animal foods for the ever increasing human population necessitates intensive farming - thus organic farming as an alternative must be considered a "myth" to the extent that it is not a solution which can be applied on a large scale.
As a more radical philosophical perspective, many vegans would say that keeping any animal in captivity entails violation of its rights and will always entail cruelty, because it entails interruption and manipulation of animals' lives, and therefore that no form of animal food production can be truly humane or ethical.
All this said, at Vegetarian Action we understand that not everyone is able to go vegan - for some people lacto-ovo vegetarianism is a first step, for others it's as far as they can get. It depends on your starting point, your background, circumstances, and support network. So our attitude is one of being happy to help and encourage everyone to go as far as they can.
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Damon
( 1/28/2007 2:44:10 AM )
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Re: Cow's milk
"Dairy cows are probably the hardest worked of all farmed animals. They are one of the few to endure pregnancy and milking both at the same time. Watch them as they walk and you will see distended udders. They will limp and lurch along with difficulty. Hardly surprising as one third at any one time suffers foot and leg problems and excruciating laminitis. Another third experiences the equally painful mastitis. Animals that can live into their mid-twenties are exhausted after two or three pregnancies and are slaughtered."
This quote from Tony Wardle, Associate Director of Viva! comes from the little booklet 'Boycott Cruelty. Go Vegan' which is put out by Veg/Vegan Society of QLD.
Presumably this applies whether they are in an intensive farm or "grazing in the fields"... the pregnancy/milking stuff is all the same.
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Sophia (Veg Action)
( 1/28/2007 2:45:21 AM )
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Re: Cow's milk
Great quote!
The 'Boycott Cruelty' booklet is available from Vegetarian Action if anyone is interested.
we also have a list of web refs for further reading on this topic if you're interested.
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Lisa M
( 2/1/2007 5:20:22 PM )
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Re: Cow's milk
Hi! I am very interested in this issue too, as a vegetarian and person concerned about the lives of animals in agriculture.I have contacted a lot of organic dairy producers over the past year and visited one (planning to visit another soon).While I still think there are ethical issues associated with taking young animals away from their mothers so humans can benefit from drinking the milk (and the problem of what happens to the male babies, etc.), from what I can see, most organic producers (particularly smaller ones) are trying to do things vastly better than we may think.The main improvements I could see were:1. the animals generally weren't being artificially inseminated (less discomfort for the females because of this and when birthing, as the offspring shouldn't be too enormous);2. they were able to graze almost entirely on grass rather than have their milk production cranked up by feeding them a lot of grain (which causes them to produce a lot more milk, and I believe this can also cause painful udders and infections, and put stress on their legs too);3. the young animals were often left to feed from their mothers for much longer than in conventional dairies before being separated from them (weaned);4. some producers tried to find homes for the young male animals as pets or 'lawnmowers' first rather than selling them off for meat, and generally they weren't big or fat enough to be sold on for veal production anyway;5. they need to be kept in a healthy low-stress way because these producers don't believe in using antibiotics.I visited a small producer of sheep milk products last year and was pleased to actually be able to see the conditions the animals were kept in. The lambs largely seemed healthy and happy. (I'm no expert, but I have some idea). Some were playing very amusingly with each other. Some of the others looked a bit bored. The adult sheep looked healthy too and had large lovely organic fields to eat from. I do believe, however, that one of the sheep was calling to its lamb, and the lamb was trying to respond. I can't be sure, but I think this is what was going on, and I felt for them. I didn't notice any others doing this.It can be hard deciding what products you will and won't consume to reduce harm to animals and the environment.I recently read a book called 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' by Micheal Pollan that focuses on food production (in the US) and what should humans eat when they can theoretically eat most things. You might find it helpful, and it's certainly facinating.I think organic dairy products (as long as they aren't intensively produced, as apparently some are in the US) are similar to genuine free-range eggs. While there are still some significant animal welfare issues with them (killing of male chicks, what happens to the hens at the end of their productive laying period? etc.), generally these methods of production are better than conventional practices for the animals, the environment and people too. Not perfect, but a definite improvement that I think is worth supporting.Cheers
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