DIRTY DAIRY! Visit This ‘Modern’ Farm Where Mother Cows Are Treated as Milk and Manure Machines
It’s a prison. Plain and simple, and hideous. Thousands of cows are confined here for life in a concrete-floored shed the size of six football fields. How about this for torture: They can see the grass outside but will never step on it. They cannot walk about, and their legs are swollen and sore. They are forcibly impregnated – raped – and their calves are stolen from them each time. After six or seven years in this hell, off they go to be made into hamburger meat.
These cows aren’t exploited only for milk. Their manure is collected and converted to natural gas in a “clean energy” scheme at this “farm of the future.”
This is Oakridge Dairy, the largest dairy in Connecticut. A whistleblower alerted PETA about the cows’ plight, and we went to check it out.
Dairy Doublespeak
As in a dystopian novel, Oakridge tosses around phrases that sound nice but mean nothing. Oakridge claims to be “where happy cows make great milk.” But when PETA’s investigators toured the facility, they found a typical factory farm, with 2,600 cows confined to a massive shed, for life.
Employees admitted that the cows never go outside because their manure couldn’t easily be collected that way. They can only gaze out from the shed at the nearby fields, the smell of grass calling to them.
Oakridge says its cows have “posh living quarters” and its industrial shed was designed “to truly raise happy cows.” Not so, says veterinarian Dr. Mary Richardson, who concludes PETA’s footage reveals “very crowded conditions” in which cows “can’t move around freely and find a comfortable spot to stand or lie down.” The only “bedding” cows are provided is their own dried manure – how’s that for “posh”?
There are few pains as great to a mother as the loss of a child. But, like other dairy factory farms, Oakridge tears babies away from their loving mothers.
Beware Humanewashing
Oakridge boasts that it creates “a haven” and ensures cows’ “maximum comfort.” But those who were hooked by the udders to a robotic milking machine – the only time they left the main concrete pens – had swollen joints and what appeared to be pressure sores on their manure-splattered legs. Long-term confinement on hard surfaces can cause and aggravate leg and foot problems, and we recorded as a cow hesitated to bear weight on her leg, stepping back and forth in evident discomfort.
A Real-Life Handmaid’s Tale
There are few pains as great to a mother as the loss of a child. But, like other dairy factory farms, Oakridge tears babies away from their loving mothers – traumatizing both – so that they can sell the milk. When PETA’s investigator asked how much time the calves spend with their mothers, a worker reported that they’re separated within 20 minutes of birth.
Two calves were on display for a public tour – subjected to the near constant blaring of tractor horns being pushed by visiting children – while hundreds more were confined to small plastic hutches and sheds nearby.
A worker explained that female calves are shipped away when they’re 5 months old – and returned a year later, once impregnated, so that the miserable cycle can start again. Male calves are sent away to be raised and killed for their flesh.
Going Vegan Is the Only ‘Green’ Choice
Dairy is never climate-friendly, no matter how Oakridge tries to spin it. Ditching dairy for vegan options means fewer cows, which in turn means fewer greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, fewer nitrates released into the water, less soil erosion and deforestation – and no cruelty.
Be Part of It!
South Jersey Industries – the utility company that partners with Oakridge – says that there are seven other “clean energy” projects at mega dairies in Michigan and New York and plans for even more. Please share PETA’s video and urge SJI to focus on ventures that don’t use animals in cruel greenwashing schemes. If you’re not yet vegan, order a free vegan starter kit. And if you know people who are hooked on cruel dairy, change their minds by feeding them delicious vegan cheeses, yogurts, milks, and more.