Who are Britain’s Hardest Working Mothers?
This Mother’s Day, mums across the country will be enjoying the company of their children – apart from Britain’s hardest working mums who have their newborns taken away a day after birth – the dairy cows.
On March 26, Bristol based animal charity, Viva!, will be opening people’s eyes to the heartbreaking suffering of these forgotten mothers. Supporters will be taking part in an awareness-raising event in Broadmead – at the same time as other events in the country. A person dressed as a cow wearing a pinny and holding a sign that reads “the hardest working mum’ will be ironing clothes whilst other people wearing a cow mask and a pinny will be handing out leaflets and holding placards.
The event is meant to dispel the myth of contentment and reveal why the dairy cow truly is the hardest worked of all mothers – nurturing a growing baby inside her while simultaneously producing up to 39 litres of milk a day (enough for seven calves!). And to keep that milk flowing she must give birth to a calf every year, having just a few precious hours with her newborn before they’re dragged away – never to be seen again. As a final insult, her breast milk – meant to nourish her baby – is stolen and sold. And when her body is exhausted and cannot take any more, around the age of five, she’s slaughtered for cheap beef. This is the agonising fate faced by 1.8 million dairy cows in Britain.
Viva! campaigner, Veronika Powell, says: “It’s time to see dairy milk for what it is – breastmilk of another species meant for their newborns. People can only ever consume cow’s milk, organic or not, it if the calf is removed. One hundred thousand male calves are shot (or killed in another manner) each year whilst females replace their mothers in the system.” “People often don’t realise we’re not meant to drink milk of another species and that it’s not even healthy. The dairy industry will always claim otherwise but it’s nothing more than advertising.” The event is part of Viva!’s White Lies campaign, which exposed the shooting of baby calves, large-scale goat dairying and also published reports on the harmful impact of dairy products consumption on human health.
For more information see www.whitelies.org.uk. Viva! is encouraging people to go dairy free and offers a lot of resources. There are delicious dairy alternatives almost everywhere – from a host of plant-based milks (eg soya, almond and coconut) to dairy-free ice creams and cheese. They’re not just cruelty-free products but they’re better for your health too! For more information about the White Lies campaign, visit www.scarydairy.org.uk or email health@viva.org.uk.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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