The Scary Facts of Dairy Violate the Five Freedoms

In the past two weeks, I've had a few inquiries about what people call "the dairy industry," and, as I write this essay, I'm preparing for an interview tomorrow morning with a major scientific magazine. To do so, I revisited a set of guidelines called the Five Freedoms. The Five Freedoms originated in the 1960s in an eighty-five-page British government study, Report of the Technical Committee to Enquire into the Welfare of Animals Kept Under Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems. This document, informally known as the Brambell Report, was a response to public outcry over the abusive treatment of animals within agricultural settings. The Five Freedoms are:

Freedom from hunger or thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour

Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area

Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment

Freedom to express (most) normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind

Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering

Jessica Pierce and I carefully analyze the Five Freedoms in our book The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age and come to the conclusion that they really have little to do about individual freedom. It is hard to imagine that the crafters of the Five Freedoms failed to recognize the fundamental paradox: How can an animal in an abattoir or battery cage be free? Being fed and housed by your captor is not freedom; it is simply what your caregiver does to keep you alive. Indeed, the Five Freedoms are not really concerned with freedom per se, but rather with keeping animals under conditions of such profound deprivation that no honest person could possibly describe them as free. And this is entirely consistent with the development of the concept of animal welfare. You can read more about the Five Freedoms in an excerpt from our book.

What's it like to be a "dairy cow" or "dairy calf?"

"Whether on factory farms, 'family' farms, or small, humane-certified farms, 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." (Ashley Capps)

So, what do the lives of millions up millions of sentient "dairy cows" and "dairy calves" look like? It's important to note that so-called "dairy animals" become so-called "food animals" when they're done producing dairy, so there's really a blurred line between these two categories of sentient beings.

An excellent discussion can be found in Kathryn Gillespie's recent book The Cow with Ear Tag #1389 in which she translates "the journey from a living cow to a glass of milk." There's also a good deal of literature based on scientific research and other reports. One that I found especially helpful is a fact-filled and well-referenced piece available online by Ashley Capps called "10 Dairy Facts the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know." Here's a brief summary of some of the facts reported by Ms. Capps (references below). Approximately "21,000,000 dairy calves are slaughtered for veal or cheap beef every year globally." Cows lactate to feed their young, and "today’s dairy cows produce up to 12 times more milk than they would naturally produce to feed a calf." Almost all dairy calves are taken from their mothers soon after birth and "97% of newborn dairy calves are forcibly removed from their mothers within the first 24 hours. Ms. Capp notes, "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." Cows are "artificially and repeatedly and forcibly impregnated year after year," which results in too many calves being born. Some female calves are destined to join the "the milking herd" and spend the first 2-3 months of life alone and are fed milk replacer.

Ms. Capps also notes, "Whether on factory farms, 'family' farms, or small, humane-certified farms, 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." And, in clear violation of their basic freedoms, "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 well-being." Because of severe abuse -- confinement and perpetual lactation -- dairy cows begin producing less milk when they're around four to five years old, at which time they're slaughtered. Ms. Capp writes, "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." Clearly, there's a good deal of humane-washing going on. All too often, if you hear the word “humane,” you can pretty well bet that something bad is happening to animals and somebody is trying to clean it up and make it look less ugly.

How thinking about dogs can help other animals: Bridging the empathy gap

I often ask people if they would allow their companion dog or other animal to live the life of a "food or dairy animal," and not a single person has ever said "yes." This question asks people to reflect on how they view their companion animal and very often good discussions follow when we talk about how so many of them don't extend their compassion and empathy to "food" and other animals who are routinely used and abused by humans. I'm hoping that dogs and other companion animals can help people bridge the empathy gap. They can serve as "gateway" species to include other nonhumans in the arena of compassion, a move that will protect them from wanton and horrific abuse.

Going "cold tofu" and giving up dairy is easy to do

I thought I knew a lot about the horrific lives of dairy cows and dairy calves, but seeing how Ms. Capp nicely summarized what their lives really are like, I was even more appalled. It's clear these sentient beings are deprived of basic freedoms and live horrific and shortened lives. They receive no respect or dignity for being alive and for being feeling, sentient beings. When I refer to "food animals," "dairy animals," or other nonhuman animals (animals), I use the word who, because billions of nonhumans who wind up in humans' mouths were formerly sentient beings, not mere objects who exist for our palate or for other reasons for which we use them. (See "Cows: Science Shows They're Bright and Emotional Individuals" and Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat.) So, the real question is, "Who's for dinner, a snack, or a drink?" rather than "What's for dinner, a snack, or a drink?"

By slowly eliminating other animals and animal products from one's diet, or by going "cold tofu" on the spot, animals and animal products will be eliminated from our meal plans, and this transition to a healthier diet will reduce environmental devastation, illness, and animal suffering and death. (See "Going 'Cold Tofu' to End Factory Farming.") The bottom line is that in far too many of our interactions with other animals, we are seriously and systematically constraining their freedoms to mingle socially, roam about, eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, have sex, make choices, play, relax, and get away from us.

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One of the most important efforts we can make on behalf of animals is to explore the ways in which we undermine their freedoms and then look to how we can provide them with more, not less, of what they really want and need. Each of us can add more compassion to the world by leaving animals and animal products out of our meal plans. Your choice of your next meal, snack, or drink is very important. That's how fast you can make a positive difference.