Awkward angles – it’s time to tell the truth about dairying!

It’s the height of calving season in New Zealand and calves are appearing like little mushrooms in many paddocks across the country. Recent media articles about dairying have touched on this subject, particularly the rather murky issue of cow-calf separation and bobby calves.

I believe that the standard industry angle on calving season can be particularly awkward and would like to offer a critique.

The dairy industry approach is encapsulated in the following quote by Janet Shultz of Federated Farmers: “although taking calves from their mothers might appear cruel, it is necessary for the health of the animals and the industry.”

That is quite simply not true. Cow-calf separation not only appears cruel , as Shultz says, but it is cruel. The dairy industry is dealing with sentient beings who can feel and who are conscious of their existence. They are not milk machines, and they suffer emotionally when their calves are taken from them.

In the 2016/2017 calving season 72.7 percent of cows were inseminated by artificial insemination. They have no choice. Once the calf is born most cows will bond due to hormonal changes. Just like humans, the bonding process is triggered by rising oxytocin levels released during calving . Within 12-24 hours most cows will become very motherly to their calves.

But within 24 hours the calf will be gone and taken to a pen to be raised by humans – or tagged for death and killed. 1.77 million calves were sent to the slaughter house at a mere 4-10 days of age in the 2016/2017 calving season.

During this same season (2016/2017) there were 4,861,324 dairy cows in New Zealand producing over 20 million litres of milk for their absent calves, many of whom are long dead. That is a lot of milk and a lot of suffering.

To claim that it is cruel to keep calf and cow together because their health would be at risk is very one dimensional thinking. Basically, it only makes sense if you buy into the worldview of the dairy industry that aims to continue to force cows to be pregnant and to produce ever-more quantities of milk for human consumption.

To be fair, the dairy industry simply cannot keep calf and cow together if animals are going to be healthy and the industry is to flourish. It’s a problem endemic to the industry. But that does not mean it is OK.

The dairy industry has created the very welfare issues they bemoan. Over time they have tinkered with the genetics of cows so much they have created breeds that give a greater yield of milk and are specifically used for dairy production. Excess milk production can lead to painful mastitis (an udder infection).

The industry aims to milk fewer cows with higher milk production.

Dairy NZ proudly states that "over the 12 months to June 2017 the average dairy cow produced more milk than ever before.” . It’s all about herd improvement- but it comes at a cost. The high producing dairy cow is She is susceptible to mastitis

So yes, cows do need to be milked for their welfare, otherwise they could get very sick. The calf would only drink 5 litres of the 20-25 litres of milk the cow is capable of producing, making the cow vulnerable to this distressing disease

Milk is the ‘liquid asset’ of the dairy industry. Where milk production is compromised due to mastitis the industry suffers as well as the animals. The difference is , the industry is not a sentient being – and cows and calves are. And milk production hurts cows and calves in other ways than mastitis.

The industry is particularly harsh on the calf. Unless they are to be kept as replacement herd, calves are quite simply in the way. No dairy farmer wants calves hanging off the teat of their mother. True, the calf does not drink much, in one day. However, cows have to walk vast distances to milking sheds every day, and herd sizes are huge. The calf would get squashed in the milking shed.

It is simply not practical to have calves with their mothers on large dairy farms. So the dairy industry answer is to remove the calf and feed them in pens. If the calf is not sold on to be raised for beef or kept as replacement, then she or he is considered surplus stock. They are then called bobby calves and tagged for death. Up to two million of them yearly.

Bobby calves will only stay in the farmers pens until they are between 4 – 10 days of age, at which time they will be sent on the bobby truck to be killed. They can legally spend 12 hours on a transport truck , and 24 hours without food before they are killed.

Calves are neonates – young mammals with a strong desire to be near their mothers and suckle. Removing them from their mother causes distress to both calf and cow and makes the calf vulnerable to sickness. Naturally they stay near their mothers and suckle every four hours, up to 6- 8 times in 24 hours. Putting them on a noisy truck when they are barely out of the womb, travelling large distances and then being killed is nothing short of cruel.

Very young calves suffer extreme trauma from separation from their mother. They are tiny and vulnerable and have umbilical cords still attached. Yet despite being neonates (an infant of any mammal less than 4 weeks old) they going to be trucked to a slaughter house and killed.

I have rescued many bobby calves over the last four years through Starfish Bobby Calf Project. I have observed their extremely sensitive, gentle and trusting natures. These calves are just finding their footing in the world around them. What the dairy industry does to them is, frankly, unforgiveable.

It’s a matter of perspective and ethics. Animals are beings that can think, feel and are conscious of their existence. This is even recognised in New Zealand law where they are considered sentient in a 2015 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act. This Act recognises that most New Zealanders have values and expectations around high animal welfare standards in the animal agriculture industries.

The dairy industry is like the Frankenstein narrative in reverse. Through creating life by artificial insemination, they have become monstrous. The dairy industry create life, the value of which is secondary to their profits.

In my opinion, it is quite simply downright misleading to claim that it is not cruel to separate cow and calf. The dairy industry needs to be phased out and some sanity needs to be restored along with our human compassion.

You can help by consuming dairy – free alternatives. For support please go to this page on SAFE to find delicious foods that don’t hurt cows and their calves. Take the plunge and go dairy free for their sakes.

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