Alicia Silverstone Doesn’t Want Kids to Be ‘Clueless’ About Milk

Vegan Actor Voices PETA’s Life-Size Animatronic Cow, Tells Elementary Students Why Dairy Is Scary

For Immediate Release:
October 10, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Schoolchildren will have a chance to hear about the dairy industry straight from the “cow’s” mouth, thanks to Carly, PETA’s life-size animatronic cow voiced by actor Alicia Silverstone. In a new video, available here, Carly tells the story of her escape from a dairy farm and what happened to the friends she left behind.

“[O]n the dairy farm, my babies were taken away from me when they were just a day or two old so that my milk could be sold in stores instead of given to them,” says vegan mother Silverstone as Carly. “I still think about my babies every day, and I miss them so much.”

Fortunately, Carly’s story has a happy ending in which she is rescued and gets to live at a sprawling sanctuary, but she explains that most cows aren’t so lucky: “Now that I’m at a sanctuary, where I’m protected and safe, I can dance, graze, play, and lie in the sunshine. But life on the dairy farm was no fun. Sometimes, I was forced to stay in a dirty outdoor pen, even if it was raining or very hot outside. I spent most of my life in a metal stall that was barely any bigger than I was.”

Carly will be visiting schools around the country to encourage students to try animal-free options and kicking off the nationwide effort at Maryland Elementary School in Vista, California, on Friday. Silverstone says, “Being vegan truly is the secret to my life’s joy and peace. I feel physically and spiritually better than I could have ever imagined knowing that I am doing everything I can to reduce animal suffering.”

Cows on dairy farms are held in cramped, filthy conditions—often indoors—and kept almost constantly pregnant in order to maximize milk production. Female calves follow in their mothers’ footsteps, while males are commonly confined to tiny pens for several months before being killed for veal. Most cows in the dairy industry are worn out by the time they’re 4 or 5 years old, at which time they’re slaughtered for cheap hamburger meat.

Silverstone is part of a long list of celebrities—including Natalie Portman, Penélope Cruz, Taraji P. Henson, Charlize Theron, Jenna Dewan, Olivia Munn, and Eva Mendes—who have teamed up with PETA to support the message of its motto, which reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.