Herd of PETA ‘Cows’ to Descend on Annual Dairy Meeting

Belligerent Bovines Want Families to Know All About Cruel and Unhealthy Industry’s Animal Abuse

For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2014

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Wearing cow costumes and ringing a cowbell, a “herd” of PETA members will gather outside the annual general meeting of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario on Wednesday in Toronto. Their point? That cows on dairy farms have their horn buds burned out and their newborn babies torn away from them and that they’re killed when their milk production declines, at 4 or 5 years of age—far short of their 25-year natural life expectancy.

“For years, the dairy industry has been selling us a bill of goods about milk’s health benefits, when consuming dairy products not only supports animal abuse but also increases the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis,” says PETA campaigner Emily Lavender. “People who want to protect their own health and help stop animal suffering should dump dairy products today.”

As seen in PETA’s video narrated by actor Casey Affleck, workers on dairy farms burn searing-hot irons into calves’ heads or use caustic chemicals to destroy horn tissue. An industry study reports that by the time they’re slaughtered, nearly 40 percent of cows on dairy farms are lame because of the intensive confinement and the strain of being kept continually pregnant. Many suffer from painful udder infections. After their calves are torn away from them, some mothers cry out for days.

Where:           Outside the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, 100 Front St. W., Toronto

When:            Wednesday, January 8, 12 noon

For more information, please visit PETA.org.