A “WhereIsMyMother.com” billboard on Interstate 5 south between Seattle and Tacoma illustrates the heartbreaking reality of the dairy industry and what mother cows and their calves endure to provide consumers with animal milk products.
The animal agriculture industry goes to great lengths to keep secret the horrors of dairy farming.
Like humans, cows form strong bonds with their babies and produce milk solely to nourish them.
In the dairy industry, mother cows are forcefully impregnated and their calves are taken from them immediately after birth and fed dairy replacers while the mother is confined and her milk collected for human consumption.
This process is repeated each year until the mother can no longer continue production, then she is sent to slaughter.
Sadly, female offspring are subjected to the same life as their mother while males are confined in small crates and raised for veal.
Every glass of milk we drink perpetuates this cruel cycle of abuse. But it doesn’t have to be this way. By choosing non-dairy milks and alternative-milk products, we directly engage in building a kinder, more compassionate world.
I’m encouraged by this awareness campaign and look forward to seeing more like it in the future.
Karyn Malone
Seattle
