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AACT in conjunction with Animal Liberation NSW and Choose Cruelty Free

20 February, 2008

PROTESTORS EXPOSE DAIRY’S CYCLE OF SUFFERING

Protesters from Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania, Animal Liberation N.S.W. and Choose Cruelty Free Victoria will be outsideThe Australian Dairy Conference today.
The conference promises a great deal of talk but no talk at all about the suffering of those animals being profited from.

The dark side of dairy is little known to the public. Images depicting cows and calves contentedly grazing together are not part of contemporary dairies. Ms Cherie Wilson from Choose Cruelty Free said “ Victorian dairy farmers are currently inducing 100,000 cows annually to keep milking cycles in synch with the rest of the herd – Bobby calves are the “unwanted by product” – unwanted calves, of which there are up to 600,000 born each year in Victoria. A total of I Million male and female calves are slaughtered each year in Australia”

The dairy cow’s cycle of suffering begins with mutilations without anaesthesia – horns disbudded using heat cauterization, knife or scoop tool; “spare” teats cut off, and chronic pain from tail docking (still legal in Victoria and Tasmania). A further procedure carried out on some bull calves is an operation called side winding. This entails the calf’s penis being surgically relocated to the side of the body. Side winding enables the dairy farmer to use these bulls as a ‘teasers’ in the herd, as they are unable to impregnate the cow, but can still indicate when a cow is in season and ready for artificial insemination.

“The dairy cow’s calf is taken away from her when barely hours old, the mother is again impregnated and the cycle of grief, loss and suffering continues. A large percentage of dairy cows suffer mastitis, lameness, her teats are stretched and torn by the trauma of milking machines. At around 8 years of age she is trucked to slaughter, her body sucked dry and spent – in the wild cows can live up to 2 decades” said Ms Lynda Stoner from Animal Liberation NSW.

“Human demand for cow’s milk is so great that calves are discarded in order to meet this demand. Approximately 27% of female calves are kept for the dairy cycle, the remaining calves are sent for processing. These calves, as young as 5 days old, are crammed into trucks and transported long distances to abattoirs. Some are crushed and seriously injured due to overcrowding and the fragility of the calves” commented Ms Jennifer Beer from Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania.

Recent Footage will screen outside the conference showing
5 day old calves being brutally unloaded from trucks with electronic prods and
calves going into stunning boxes.

Footage of the ongoing investigation and dairy flyers will be given out to the public

“Tasmania is a great place to dairy as it has….minimal regulations and red tape” – Dairy Tasmania

Where: Grand Chancellor Hotel, Launceston, Tasmania

Further information:

Lynda Stoner (Animal Liberation NSW) – 0433 950 564
Cherie Wilson (Choose Cruelty Free Victoria) – 0400 889 623
Jennifer Beer (Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania) – 0408 970 359