Today, in honour of World Vegan Month (November), two giant PETA “babies” stood in front of the Parliament Buildings holding signs proclaiming “Cows’ Milk Is for Baby Cows” and “Not Your Mum? Not Your Milk!”
The protest, held on the lawn of the Beehive, highlighted how unnatural it is for humans to drink the milk of another species after weaning and reminded New Zealanders that cows suffer immensely in the dairy industry, which is also detrimental to the planet.
The “Environment Aotearoa 2019” report found that a 40% increase in pastureland coupled with a 70% increase in the national dairy herd is contributing to the nation’s harmful nitrogen levels, which not only kill river-dwelling animals but also can make drinking water unsafe. Ruminant animals, including cows used for dairy, emit methane – a greenhouse gas that’s 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat.
Aside from the environmental impact, dairy cruelly tears families apart. Female cows in the dairy industry are continually forcibly impregnated and their babies are removed within weeks of their birth, so that humans can drink the milk intended for them. Female calves often follow in their mothers’ sad footsteps, while male calves, considered “useless” by the industry, are usually slaughtered for veal.
“Cows don’t make milk because they’re cows but because they’re mothers, and they grieve when their babies are taken away,” says PETA spokesperson Laura Weyman-Jones. “It’s absurd for any human to guzzle the mammary secretions of another species, and PETA urges everyone to leave cows’ milk for the calves and opt for delicious, sustainable, and ethical dairy-free milk instead.”
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that the plethora of dairy-free milks available presents a healthy, sustainable, and delicious option for thirsty humans, with none of the artery-clogging animal fat and cholesterol of cows’ milk.
PETA opposes speciesism, which is a human supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.au.
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