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PROTECT COWS AND THEIR CALVES

Dairy farming is responsible for suffering on a huge scale. Over 2.6 million cows are used for their milk every year in the UK. On every single one of the 8,000 UK dairy producers there is a cycle of suffering taking place.

Cows – just like humans – need to be pregnant to produce milk and so, whether it’s a small, local, organic or factory farm, cows in this industry will have to be impregnated year after year and quickly separated from their calves so the milk can be sold to humans. These sensitive animals form strong bonds. The cows carry their calves for nine months, yet within hours or days are tragically torn from them.

Not only that, but the dairy industry is pushing our planet to its limits. Like all animal agriculture, it is a driving force behind species extinction, deforestation, water scarcity, land overuse and global antibiotic resistance. Producing a glass of dairy milk every day for a year needs land as large as the size of two tennis courts – that’s ten times the land needed for oat milk.

With 1 in 3 Brits now reported to be consuming plant-based milks on a regular basis, the nation is stepping away from supporting this industry. This is unsurprising, since the UK prides itself on being a nation of animal lovers and the world is all too aware of the climate catastrophe that is already rearing its ugly head.

Despite this, many dairy farmers rely on financial provisions to keep their businesses alive – from tax breaks to grants and subsidies. British dairy farmers received over £56 million annually in direct Government payments over recent years, making up nearly 40% of their profits. In early 2022 the Government backed the £1 million ‘AHDB dairy campaign’ to boost dairy milk consumption, as well as providing dairy farmers with access to an additional £27 million under the Farming Investment Fund to cover costs of new equipment and infrastructure.

We should be able to trust the Government to use our taxpayer money wisely, but as a conscious consumer I am concerned that the Government is choosing to support an industry that is responsible for damaging our planet and taking mothers from their babies.

We have an incredible opportunity to remake our food system. By shifting subsidies from the dairy industry to support plant-based alternatives, and by providing financial support for farmers to transition to arable farming or land rewilding programmes, we can futureproof farmers’ jobs and create a kinder, more sustainable world in the process.

Please, use your power and our taxpayer money to:
Subsidise plant-based dairy alternatives;
Fund farmers to rewild their land instead of farming animals on it;
Incentivise farmers to transition away from dairy and towards arable farming.

A better future is within our grasp and if the UK leads, others will follow.

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A Cow’s Life

From a young age we’re led to believe that dairy is a harmless by-product. But when award-winning actress, Miriam Margolyes, realised what really happens on dairy farms across Britain, she felt compelled to take action.

Just like humans, cows must give birth to produce milk. That means that every single one of the 2.6 million cows who are killed in the UK each year for their meat and milk will endure the same gruelling existence.

It’s the same story for cows across all farms. Whether intensive, free-range, organic-certified or accredited, there is a cruel cycle of suffering in all dairy farms across the UK and the world.

Each cow will be repeatedly impregnated year after year, carrying each baby for nine months.
Once born, she and her calf will be forcibly separated, usually spending just hours or days together. The milk is then taken, bottled and sold for human consumption.
Female calves follow in their mothers’ footsteps, while males are swiftly killed for their flesh or enter the cruel veal industry.
After giving birth over and again until her body becomes weak and her milk production declines, cows used for their dairy all suffer the same fate. After a few short years, they are sent to slaughter, destined to become cheap beef.

A Message From Miriam Margolyes

Transition to a brighter future

With 1 in 3 Brits now reported to be consuming plant-based milks on a regular basis, the nation is stepping away from supporting this industry. Our supermarket shelves are overflowing with plant-based milks, cheese and yoghurt alternatives.

Despite this, British dairy farmers received over £56 million annually in direct Government payments over recent years, making up nearly 40% of their profits.

That’s why Miriam Margolyes is joining Animal Equality in urging the UK Government to shift subsidies from the dairy industry to fund plant-based alternatives and offer financial support for farmers transitioning to arable farming or land rewilding programmes.

A brighter future is within our grasp. Make a change for cows and calves today, by ditching dairy and by signing our petition!

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Miriam’s Experience

I’ve been on a journey of discovery…. I don’t mince my words, so I will tell you the truth: it broke my heart. But I am also thankful that this has been brought to my attention. Everyone deserves to know the truth.

If we’re successful, more people will choose plant-based options and they’ll drink less cows’ milk, which means fewer cows will be separated and killed. I really believe we can make a difference. The world is harsh. Let’s make it kinder.

Miriam Margolyes

Facts About Dairy: What The Industry Doesn’t Show You

Around 2.6 million cows are used for their milk every year in the UK and a growing number of them have never stepped foot on grass and will never see a pasture.

Because of the deceptive marketing used by the industry, few people really know what happens to cows in the dairy industry. Many people, for example, don’t realise that, just like us, cows only produce milk after giving birth.

Below are some of the abuses cows are subjected to throughout their lives. Practices that are part and parcel of typical dairy production and, most disturbingly, are perfectly legal right here in the UK.

Because they cannot produce milk, male calves are considered useless to the dairy industry. For this reason, many are killed shortly after birth.

A 2020 report revealed that an estimated 60,000 male calves each year in the UK were shot on-farm. Though this practice is now being phased out in many farms as a result of new rules from major supermarkets and assurance schemes, the ultimate fate of male calves has not changed.

Many will be sent to the slaughterhouse at just weeks old, or raised for a short time before being killed and sold as veal or beef.
Cows in the dairy industry are bred specifically to produce far larger quantities of milk than they would ever produce naturally. This unnatural milk production, combined with repeated forced pregnancies, takes a toll on their bodies.

By the time they are a few years old, they are seen as ‘unproductive’ – because they’re so exhausted and their milk production has declined – and no longer profitable to the industry.

At this point they are sent to slaughter and sold for cheap meat and leather products.
Male calves are not the only babies to be killed by the dairy industry, as some calves are killed while they are still in their mother’s womb.

An estimated 150,000 cows are killed every year in the UK while they are carrying their babies. Shockingly, many of them are in the last stage of their pregnancies, meaning their calves can suffer during and for a few minutes after the slaughter.

Approximately 90% of the pregnant cows that are slaughtered every year are cows bred for their milk.
Because the industry is constantly looking for ways to increase profits, a new system – referred to as ‘zero-graze’ – has been introduced in the UK and it is being used more and more frequently.

In a zero-graze system, a cow is not allowed to graze or be outdoors on the grass. Instead, she is fed silage (wet, fermented grass) and a high concentrate mix of cereal, soya, sunflower meal and maize.

Currently, an estimated 16% of UK dairy farms have adopted the zero-graze system and the number, sadly, is expected to grow.
Up to 50% of cows used for their dairy suffer from mastitis, an infection of the udder which causes secretion of pus.

Mastitis can be treated with antibiotics, however, this would cause the milk to be deemed unsuitable for human consumption, resulting in a loss of profit for the industry.

For this reason, if the disease has not been diagnosed or is not imminently threatening the cow’s life, cows on some farms are still milked anyway.
Because of the unnatural and barren conditions cows are kept in, they often become lame over time. Forcing them to stand for long periods of time on hard floors, improper or neglected trimming of their hooves, malnourishment, infections and overall poor quality of the facilities are the main reasons many cows lack strength and become debilitated.

Lameness affects on average 25% of cows exploited for their milk.
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