Oakridge Dairy Removes Deceptive ‘Humane’ Claims After Cease and Desist From PETA

For Immediate Release:
January 10, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Ellington, Conn. –

Following a cease-and-desist letter from PETA, Oakridge Dairy—the largest dairy in Connecticut—has removed multiple false and misleading claims from its website about the welfare of the thousands of cows it keeps constantly confined on concrete so that their manure can be collected by a “methane digester” as part of a dubious “clean energy” scheme.

That the cows confined at the dairy are given “plenty of elbow room” and “spend their days relaxing among their peers” in an “optimal living habitat” are just some of the false and deceptive claims that Oakridge Dairy has removed from its website following PETA’s letter. The dairy has also taken down a YouTube video claiming that it “ensures the wellbeing” of the cows and creates a “haven” for them.

PETA’s letter followed a PETA video investigation, prompted by a whistleblower tip,revealing suffering cows at Oakridge with swollen joints and apparent pressure sores on their legs. The cows were denied any access to the outdoors—and their only “bedding” inside the concrete-floored mega-shed was the manure left over from the methane digester.

*Some cows had swollen joints, which can be caused or aggravated by long-term confinement on hard surfaces.*

“By removing these bogus claims, Oakridge Dairy has acknowledged that its assurances about the welfare of cows forced to wade in their own manure and feces aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is urging consumers never to be duped by sham marketing schemes and reminds everyone that the only humane milk is plant milk like oat, soy, almond, and rice.”

Cows have deep maternal instincts, and like all mothers, produce milk only to feed their babies—but Oakridge takes the calves away from their mothers within 20 minutes of birth so that the milk meant to nourish them can be sold through delivery service The Modern Milkman and distributed through Dairy Farmers of America, which supplies dairy brands nationwide. Cows used by the dairy industry are forcibly inseminated (raped) repeatedly to ensure a steady supply of milk—and are sent to slaughter once their bodies wear out after repeated pregnancies.

PETA notes that methane digesters like that at Oakridge can’t capture the massive amounts of nitrous oxide and ammonia produced by cows—and don’t come close to capturing all the methane gas produced—all of which poison the water, air, and soil. Dairy operations participating in methane digester schemes frequently opt to expand cow numbers on their farms to produce more manure to offset costs, thereby increasing greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption—and even leading to environmentally destructive manure spills.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.