PETA Shareholder Statement to Call On WhiteWave to End Cow Mutilations

Group Will Grill Company Execs at Annual Meeting About Painful Dehorning of Calves

For Immediate Release:
April 17, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Denver — WhiteWave’s 2013 annual meeting will include a statement and question from a representative of PETA, which owns stock in the company. The group will call on WhiteWave to require that the dairy suppliers for its Horizon Organic milk line begin phasing out dehorning, a painful process in which calves have their horns gouged out or horn tissue burned out of their heads. PETA will point out how breeding for naturally hornless, or polled, cows eliminates one of the most painful things done to cows on dairy farms.

When:   Wednesday, April 17, 9:30 a.m.

Where:  Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Ricketson Auditorium, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver

“Everything from commonsense to scientific studies tells us that calves suffer excruciating pain when their horns are gouged out or sensitive horn tissue is burned off with a hot iron,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “WhiteWave’s claim that it’s made up of ‘animal lovers’ rings hollow as long as it refuses to take action to phase out this painful mutilation of baby cows.”

As shown in PETA’s dehorning video exposé, narrated by Academy Award nominee Casey Affleck, workers on dairy farms burn searing-hot irons into calves’ heads to destroy horn tissue or use sharp instruments or other tools to saw, gouge, or cut out the horn and sometimes the surrounding tissue. Cows struggle desperately and cry out in pain during these procedures, which are routinely performed without giving them any painkillers. By breeding for polled cattle—which causes at least half the calves to be born hornless—dairy farmers can eliminate this cruel procedure.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.