The Truth About Milk

He was separated from his mother, denied his mother's milk and thereafter killed

Whenever I buy milk, I often imagine happy cows in green pastures with beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Well, that’s what the label suggests.  I never had a snippet of an idea what is in truth and in fact happening in dairy farms.  But now I know… thanks to the Internet.  Without it, I would not have a notion on how cows are actually treated in dairy farms in countries that I erroneously thought are treating these animals well. Just imagine the horror, pain and suffering these cows are going through everyday to produce milk for us. I know mothers can relate to the agony the cow felt after her calf was immediately separated from her almost immediately after birth.

The very disgusting treatment of dairy cows and their calves should be known by everyone who continue to buy milk and other milk products. If I have known earlier, I would not have bought and consumed the milk produced by those forcibly artificially inseminated cows that four or six years later are either killed or left for dead. I do not want to drink their anguish and torment!

I think we are in the advent of a revolution – something that would inevitably happen given the deluge of information brought about by technology.  What has been hidden and sugarcoated in dairy farms all over the world are now readily accessible. The truth has come out – dairy cows are sexually exploited, abused, tormented and thereafter killed or left to die. Unwanted calves are separated from their mothers, denied milk, starved and then killed. This repulsive cycle continues year after year!

It is lamentable that most milk products that can be found in gigantic malls and groceries in the Philippines are imported from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the US. The labels of these products often fail to convey the truth about the state of the cows and their calves. It does not provide a clear picture of how milk is actually produced.  If local and imported cigarettes are now required by law to print “graphic health warning templates” on their packaging, why not require milk products to include in their label real and valuable information such as “milk derived from artificially inseminated cows” or “the babies of these cows were denied milk for you to enjoy”. For the sake of the consuming public, let transparency rule.