Dairy cows are not only denied the chance to nurse their new-born calf but also have been selectively bred to produce abnormally large volumes of milk. So yes given these circumstances there is the argument that they need to be milked for their survival otherwise their udders will become infected and sore, and they could die- if ever there was a story we tell ourselves to soothe our consciences then this is one of them.
We are well aware other animals love their babies, there are countless nature documentaries showing mothers in the wild caring for their offspring. We also know this about farmed animals too, but we choose to block this out or somehow overlook it in order to continue with our lives and our food choices. The mother child bond is a powerful force of nature that has evolved over millions of years, and as we know ourselves as mothers and parents, it is a feeling so strong that we would literally jump through fire to protect and nurture our offspring. Dairy cows like Daisy are as desperate as we would be if our new-born baby was taken from us at birth, a horror like no other. Even if you believed a mother cow felt only half of what a human mother would feel in the same situation you can still feel the torment and despair dairy farming causes to mother cows.
What happens to dairy cow mothers routinely, without reprieve, is exactly the most abhorrent, inhumane and deplored action that could ever happen to a human mother. By consuming anything dairy we are actively supporting and paying for this unthinkable torment to regularly happen to dairy cows.
Ironically many beef farmers advocate keeping the calf with the mother at least with gradual weaning over many months, for the optimum wellbeing of both calf and mother.
In India cows have been known to walk 11 kilometres to be reunited with a calf.
Mother to Mother
We take Daisy’s babies so we can steal her milk to make our dairy products. Daisy is a mother with every motherly instinct that we have as human mothers. Her fate as a dairy producing cow means she, along with all dairy cows are literally taken to hell and back repeatedly, the pain only subsiding at her premature violent death. Her maternal instincts are made a mockery of and her cries of anguish are in vain, just part of this unforgiving, brutal system.
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