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Ten Dairy Facts the Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know

1. 21,000,000 dairy calves are slaughtered for veal or cheap beef every year globally. (1)

2. Like all mammals, cows must give birth in order to make milk. Like human mothers, they carry their babies for nine months, then begin to lactate for the sole purpose of nourishing their young.

3. Due to extensive genetic manipulation, today’s dairy cows produce up to 12 times more milk than they would naturally produce to feed a calf.

4. Even so, virtually all dairy calves are stolen from their mothers within hours of birth in order to maximize profit. 97% of newborn dairy calves are forcibly removed from their mothers within the first 12 hours. The rest are removed in a matter of days. On so-called humane dairy farms, cows are often taken within the first hour of birth as separation of mother and calf is considered less stressful when they have not been allowed to bond.

5. To keep them lactating at maximum yields, cows are artificially and forcibly inseminated year after year. The constant cycle of forced pregnancy and birth creates a huge surplus of calves.

6. Some female calves will join the milking herd. They typically spend the first 2 to 3 months of life confined in lonely hutches, fed a diet of milk replacer while humans drink the milk intended for them.

7. Male calves and surplus females are sold to be slaughtered for veal or cheap beef. The veal industry would not exist without the dairy industry.

8. Over 90% of U.S. dairy cows are confined in primarily indoor operations, with more than 60% tethered by the neck inside barren stalls, unable to perform the most basic behaviors essential to their wellbeing.

9. Trapped in a cycle of forced impregnation, perpetual lactation and near constant confinement, dairy cows’ overworked bodies begin producing less milk at 4 to 5 years of age, at which point they are slaughtered. In natural conditions, cows can live 20 to 25 years.

10. Of the 9 million dairy cows in the U.S., 3 million are slaughtered each year at only a fraction of their natural lifespan.  Their worn out bodies become ground beef and restaurant hamburgers.

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