A life of quiet suffering – the dairy cow
When most people pour milk onto their cereal each morning they don't think about where the product came from. Dr Deidre Wicks argues the modern dairy cow is the victim of market-driven exploitation.
Last month there was another story about the live export of Australian cows. This time it concerned dairy cows sent to Qatar to contribute to a breeding program. What greeted them in Qatar was cruelty and neglect, as reported on the ABC’s 7.30 program. While these conditions were bad enough, life for the dairy cow here in Australia and in other developed countries is not what most people imagine it to be.
The modern dairy cow produces about 10 times the milk she would normally produce for her calf. In Australia, average annual yield per cow has increased from 2,850 to 5,000 litres over the past two decades. The result is an animal with little muscle, an enormous udder so large and distended her calf would have trouble suckling from it, a cow which never gets to rear her offspring, but rather must endure endless separations from her newborn.
A recent study found that, ‘The modern high- yield dairy cow is a pitiful, ramshackle embodiment of market-driven exploitation’.
Many milk drinkers do not know that cows can only give milk after they have given birth. The milking period then lasts for about six months after which it begins to decline. This means that a dairy cow must give birth to a calf once a year. What happens to all these calves? The female calves are either raised to replace the worn-out milking cows or sent off to slaughter with the males, who end up as veal. They are known as ‘non-replacement calves’, and there are around 700,000 born in Australia each year.
The creation of the high milk producing cow has not occurred by accident. These high yield cows have been purpose-bred through artificial insemination to focus on qualities that enhance milk production. Very few cows see, let alone mate, with a bull, who in turn leads a joyless life, repeatedly mating with a cowhide covered model until exhausted.
The dairy cow pays a huge price for the way her body has been altered over time. High milk production depletes minerals and nutrients, and it is not uncommon for cows to be undernourished and under metabolic stress. Under these circumstances, the cow is susceptible to both viral and bacterial conditions, notably mastitis and lameness, both of which cause mild to excruciating pain to the cow and cost the industry tens of millions each year.
Today, most of the world’s cows are confined in sheds, some in open cubicles, while others are tethered with little freedom of movement. Given that cows prefer to spend 10–14 hours a day lying down, forcing a cow to stand indefinitely must be seen as a type of torture. Those on dry lots have an even worse fate. They have no protection from the weather, and because the lots are cleaned only once or twice a year, they are left standing in their own urine and faeces for much of their short lifetime.
Yet we are increasing our exports of dairy cows to China and elsewhere. What was a niche market for a small number of breeding heifers has exploded into a multi-million dollar business. To meet rising demand for milk, cheese and yoghurt from Chinese consumers, cows are housed in huge indoor factories with automatic milking and their milk flow recorded and sent to a central computer. Manure is removed on a conveyer belt. The cows will never see sunshine or lie under the shade of a tree.
Many people who live and work with cows comment on their tolerance, practical intelligence, their peacefulness and serenity. Sadly it seems we are so busy exploiting them, we don’t even notice. We barely glance at the milk crates lined up outside our favorite café, ready for frothing our cappuccinos and flat whites. Each time you hear that noise, think of the cow that gave the milk and the price she paid for the perfect coffee.
Dr Deidre Wicks is an independent social researcher based in Sydney. She was a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and is now an Honorary Associate at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. She is also a member of the Council of Voiceless, the animal protection institute, for whom she writes a quarterly essay. Deidre presents and publishes papers both nationally and internationally, most recently at the ‘Minding Animals’ Conference held in Utrecht in July 2012. She likes cows. The full version of this paper is available at www.voiceless.org.au
Karel Kat
November 16, 2012 at 5:22 am
Cows
What will it take for our society to register that farm animals have the same ability to feel happiness or suffer pain as our treasured pets? Who among us would tolerate our pet cat or dog being condemned to a life like that of the dairy cow or her male offspring, the bobby calf?
Our treatment of animals other than our pets is based on cognitive dissonance. I look forward to a time when that disconnect is turned into consciousness.