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The Dark Side of Dairy – Get The Truth

by Jennie Richards · Published November 20, 2016 · Updated July 12, 2021

Remember those beautiful images of dairy cows lazily grazing in an idyllic green pasture? Today, this reality could not be farther from the truth. Learn about The Dark Side of Dairy.

What Happens To Dairy Cows?

Just like humans, cows must give birth in order to lactate. And like humans, cows are pregnant for nine months before giving birth. So from the time a dairy cow is 1-2 years old, she is forcibly impregnated and will be continuously every nine months in an unrelenting cycle of reproduction, to produce dairy milk for humans, until her premature death at five years old.

When her calf is born, it is immediately taken away from her—so her milk can go directly to humans. Newborn baby calves, are never allowed to drink their own mother’s milk. Instead, weak from lack of nutrition and food, and unable to walk or stand up, they are forcibly taken from their mothers and carted to trucks that transport them directly to the slaughterhouse. These calves are considered a “necessary waste product of the dairy industry.” In some cases, baby male calves are selected for the “veal” industry, and at birth are removed from their mother, and placed inside dark small hutches or stalls where they are not allowed to move. For food, they are given a water-based, drug-laced diet to keep their meat pale and tender. These calves never receive their mother’s milk, and become severely anemic, weak, arthritic, have chronic diarrhea their entire short lives, and live lives of quiet misery and anguish in darkness and strict confinement. Most don’t see sunlight or daylight, or feel warmth on their bodies, but instead live in their feces, are alone, unable to stretch their limbs or walk, and never receive the medical attention they often need.

For the dairy cow, removal of her newborn calf causes her deep and prolonged grief, anger, and resentment, and she is known to bellow loudly for her offspring for days and even attack the handlers as her baby calf is carted away. Life for her is a never-ending cycle of forced pregnancy and birth — all while lactating nonstop to produce milk for humans. Her body quickly becomes depleted, exhausted and spent after living 4-5 years through constant reproduction with no break in between. After about 4-5 pregnancies, and lactating non-stop her entire young life, she is crippled and often unable to walk, even to her transport that will take her to the slaughterhouse — her final destination.

What Does All of This Mean for a Dairy Cow?

Constant pregnancy for nine months; constant lactating and milking year round – causing painful mastitis infections of the utters that are rarely treated
She must be pregnant and producing milk all at the same time, for most of a year – without ever getting a break for her body to recover
She is forcibly and painfully artificially inseminated using a “rape rack” to hold her still, for yet another pregnancy – and all while milking from the birth of her previous baby
Her constant pregnancies and milking make her weak, starving and unable to get enough food and nutrition, so she becomes emaciated and physically depleted
Her constant pregnancies give her severe and painful reproductive infections like mastitis, which go medically untreated
Her pregnancies deplete her calcium, giving her deadly calcium deficiency
Her constant cycles of forced pregnancy and births create a huge and wasteful surplus of calves, which means more suffering and death
Industrial cows stand on hard, cold concrete floors 24/7, which gives them severe arthritis, joint disease, lameness and eventually they can no longer stand up or carry their weight, they are too weak, so they are slaughtered
Cows are so physically and emotionally exhausted after 5 years, they have come to the end of their lives prematurely for the dairy industry – some 20 years early
Then they are slaughtered for meat

Bottom line is these sweet, gentle, intelligent dairy cows lead extremely miserable, unhappy, painful, unhealthy lives of suffering forced on them. They are essentially baby machines for dairy companies to profit from, to produce dairy milk for humans considered unnatural and harmful for the human body. The dairy industry is highly profitable, has been subsidized by U.S. tax-payers for decades, and has been very successful at misinforming and deceiving the public about the dangerous health consequences of consuming dairy products.

How can you help end the suffering of these intelligent, gentle creatures condemned to a life of producing milk for humans? Transition to plant milks, plant-based cheeses, plant-based butters, and plant-based ice creams, with a wide variety of choices now available.

What Happens to Baby Calves?

Cows are known to be highly nurturing mothers who bond deeply with their calves, so when her calf is stolen from her abruptly after birth, she cries out for it for days and grieves for the loss of her calf. She is depressed, and has been known to get angry with the men who take her calf away — repeatedly.

Life is short for baby male calves. There are three possible scenarios for male calves after birth.

Sent to Slaughter – They are considered waste products of the dairy industry’s relentless milk production for humans. These male calves are immediately slaughtered just after birth. They are transported frightened, terrified and confused, without their mothers.

Raised for Beef – Some males are taken away from their mothers just after birth to be raised for beef.

Raised for Veal – Most male calves end up as veal calves, confined to tiny crates where they are not permitted to move, walk, turn around, and are chained standing or lying down completely immobilized for months. They are fed a liquid diet of water and drugs—enough to keep them alive, but extremely anemic and weak without their mother’s milk to provide needed nutrients. Often they cannot walk to the transport that carries them to the slaughterhouse, they are so weak from map-nutrition.

About Your Health Caused by Dairy Milk Products

Here’s a list of diseases with proven links to the consumption of dairy milk and dairy products:

Acne, allergies, asthma, eczema, hay fever, gastrointestinal bleeding, arthritis, Bovine Somatotrophin (BST), breast cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, colic, constipation, Coronary Heart Disease, Crohn’s Disease, diabetes, Dementia, food poisoning, gallstones, Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), Kidney Disease, Kidney Stones, lactose intolerance, migraine headaches, Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune disorders, obesity, and Osteoporosis.

More About the Dairy Industry

Read the 10 Dairy Facts The Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

Read about male calves in The Hidden Casualties of the Dairy Industry: Male Calves

Read about Sexual Violation of Dairy Cows in 14 Steps

Read about diseases linked to dairy consumption in the White Lies Health Report

Read The Milk of Human Unkindness: Betraying Children With Every Glass

Read about living a Healthy, dairy-free lifestyle

More Films About the Dairy Industry

The Herd

The Herd replaces female cows with female humans, and by doing so hopes to promote a greater understanding of the suffering inflicted upon cows in the dairy industry. Known as the first feminist vegan horror film.

Got The Facts On Milk – The Milk Documentary

The film confronts and dispels the myths propagated by the dairy industry for decades through their media campaigns and TV advertising. Experts interviewed in the film agree that the dairy industry has marketed erroneous and flawed slogans for years, that have not only been deceptive and misleading, but have been and are downright dangerous to human health. The film is a shocking expose on the truth about the dairy industry and dairy products.