Let me just state that this post is pretty near and dear to my heart. After learning all the facts about the dairy industry and the life of cows, my world was changed.
What do you see when someone says the word "dairy cow"? For most people the following image is what comes to mind....
It's a beautiful sunny afternoon and Bessie the cow is grazing out in a luscious green pasture. Farmer John makes his way out to Bessie and gently leads her back to the barn. He takes her to the milking stall, you know the one where she can eat some hay and stand at ease, and sets up his stool and milk bucket. "All right now Bess, I'm going to be real gentle. You just keep eating that hay and everything is going to be just fine." He gently strokes the milk filled udders, and squeezes with just the slightest pressure until the milk hits the bottom of the bucket. He continues his work, pausing frequently to pet and comfort Bessie, until the bucket is full. Then it's back out to the gorgeous green pasture for Bessie and Farmer John is left satisfied with his bucket full of milk.
 |
| What a beautiful day to be Bessie. |
Sorry to break it to you, but that is NOT anything close to a day in the life of a dairy cow. I'm sure some people with very small personal farms still use such practices, but in today's factory farm society it's just not happening. So what does happen to these cows day in and day out?
To begin, we must start with birth. Some people are under the impression that dairy cows just produce milk, but like any other mammal (humans included) a baby must be born in order for the mother to lactate. So farmers are sure to knock their cows up as frequently as possible. A cow's gestational period is about 285 days, very similar to human females gestation period of about 260 days. As soon as the calf is born, oxytocin(the love hormone...if you haven't watched the Business of Being Born and heard Michel Odent speak of this, I recommend you do, whether you are a mother or not!) is released and milk production occurs, once again same as us human mommies. Generally a cow is allowed to birth, she will be milked for about ten months and then start the insemination process, be pregnant, give birth, get milked and repeat.
And here is where my heart breaks. This mother cow doesn't get to nurse her sweet little calf, she doesn't get to nuzzle her fresh new life that she carried for those 285 days. If her baby is a boy, he will be immediately taken away for the production of beef. Not only do male cows usually become hamburgers, but more often than not they become veal. Veal is by far one of the most disturbing animal products sold today. A male calf no more than a day old is taken from his mother, both are panic stricken and crying out for one another, and put into a veal crate. What is a veal crate you ask? Well it's a tiny little box, so small that the calf can not turn around or even move. See the appeal of veal is that it is succulent and tender, so in order to get the right tenderness you must deprive this LIVING BABY MAMMAL of adequate food, water, and movement. These male calves are made to be anemic so that the meat is very delicate, they are not even able to bend their necks enough to reach the floor.
 |
| Not enough room to turn around, not even enough to move. |
Now can somebody please tell me how we as highly capable thinking humans beings can consider this an ok practice?!?! So after his several months of living in cramped quarters, eating an all liquid diet to keep up his anemia this little soul is sent off to have his throat slit while still conscious, hung upside down, blood drained and chopped in cutlets of veal for the asshole at the nice steakhouse to order so he can impress his date with the expensive cut of baby flesh.
So what happens if the calf is a girl? Well she is doomed to lead the life her mother leads. She is separated from mom, taken away to begin the cycle of fattening up and preparing to be impregnated so she can continue to make the farmers richer and richer and the people sicker and sicker.
Back to mama cow. Now that she's gone through labor, had her baby taken from her, she is left with udders full of milk just waiting to be emptied by her calf. But sadly no calf will be suckling, instead she will become engorged thanks to all the "great" growth hormones that have been pumped into her body since she herself were a calf. Normally a cow would produce just enough milk to meet the needs of her growing baby(once again same as us!!! Is this getting old yet? Good, my message is clear!) which is about 16 pounds per day. Thanks to the growth hormones she will now produce a whopping average of 54 pounds of milk a day.
Any breastfeeding mother will tell you that when the milk first comes in(engorgement) that it hurts like hell. Personally, about 2 days after birthing Annabella my boobs looked like two giant watermelons stuffed into my skin. I mean those suckers were so engorged it looked like I had breasts in my armpits! But after a couple days of normal feedings all goes back to the way it should and the pain is ancient history. Not for dear ol' Bessie. She is left to the devices of faulty pumping machines that will inevitably lead to more pain and suffering. These machines aren't gentle like her baby would be. Those clamps are tight, they pull very hard and most of the time cause mastitis. Mastitis is painful inflammation of the mammary gland, normally due to inadequate draining of the breast/udder(once again making that mammal to mammal connection). So Factory Farmer John comes in and shoots her up with more antibiotics to try and rid her of the infection. If it works it means more money for him. If he doesn't work it still means more money for him.
See once Bessie gets to the point where Factory Farmer John doesn't want to "waste" anymore time or money on her, she gets loaded up and sent off to slaughter; the fate of all livestock. Regardless of her milk being infected, which can lead to other bodily infections (keyword PUS, this will ring a bell later on another dairy post to follow) she is still okay to be ground up and made into burgers, steak, and even put into baby food! Most cows that are kept merely as the lovable companions that they truly are will live sometimes past 20 years of age, where as the factory farmed cow will see only 5 maybe 6 years of life. She will leave in tight quarters squeezed in with other cows, be fed disgusting remaining parts from her fellow stall mates, and sadly probably be abused by the workers.
And now, my letter to the dairy cow.
To all you Bovine Beauties:
I must begin with I'm sorry. I'm sorry for so long contributing to your pain and suffering. I'm sorry that you were born to a life that if given the choice, I know you wouldn't choose. I've always been starstruck by your beautiful eyes and lashes, by your gentle manner, and adoring moos. I'm a mother now too, and my heart breaks for you. Giving birth to my sweet daughter was the biggest and best accomplishment of my life. Holding her in my arms and being able to nurture her with the milk that I produced was so rewarding and comforting. Looking into her, coincidentally, beautiful bovine eyes and seeing the love spill from her to me warmed my soul. I'm sorry that you have been robbed that experience. That your chance to be a loving, caring, giving mother has been ripped from you. I'm sorry that your babies are doomed to lead a life no better than yours. Every parent wants more for their children and I take you as no exception to that rule.
 |
| That oxytocin rush. Something no mother, human or animal, should be deprived of. |
 |
| All mammals are capable of feeling. |
 |
| Beautiful. |
I'm sorry that not all people can feel and think as some do. I'm sure some will view it very silly that I'm writing to a cow, but I know that others will be touched and know that my apologies are really sincere. If I could rescue you all, I would set you free to a life that you would love to live. Every being deserves that, not just human beings.
So to all of you beautiful, feeling, thinking, breathing, cows out there just know that I'm sorry and that I will do all that I can to help others help you. You are worth it.
Loving committed,
Amanda
No comments:
Post a Comment