01/25/18 Say goodbye to cow's milk
PETA video that moved people around the world
A striking video (with Croatian subtitles) shows mothers saying goodbye to their children
The hardest separations are those that are irreversible - the farewell between a mother and her child especially. In a beautiful and moving video by PETA Germany titled "Goodbye to milk", the farewells between mothers and children departing to travel or study are compared to the goodbyes between cows and their children in the dairy industry. Calves are taken from cows as early as three days after their birth, just so we can drink their milk.
Viewers, made to witness these upsetting farewell stories, experience unbelievable empathy and come away truly changed. The video doesn't leave any room for speciesism. The maternal bond between a human mother and a child is equally strong as the maternal bond between a cow and her new-born calf. Likewise, the pain of separation is expressed equally by nonverbal communication: human tears and animal groans.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of calves are separated from their mothers in order for humans to satisfy an unnatural and unhealthy desire for cow's milk. After undergoing intense fattening, the calves soon end up in slaughterhouses - the animals' final home once they're unable to produce milk. Before that, to produce milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt, cows are subjected to yearly pregnancies. They carry their child for nine months, just like humans, after human hands are forced deep into their rectum to inseminate them.
More and more people are unwilling to consume cow's milk and by-products because they don't want to participate in a cruel practice of exploiting the female reproductive system. Also, cow's milk isn't intended for a human diet, but for calves - just like how human milk is intended for human children. Therefore, it is not surprising that it results in various health issues. Furthermore, milk also transfers pesticides, hormones, and various infections.
Animal Friends invites everyone to the Veggie challenge and to join the movement to end animal suffering. “Everyone who says goodbye to milk and all other animal products can play a real and serious role in creating a better world for all living beings”, according to the organization.
The "Goodbye to milk" video was translated and subtitled to Croatian by Animal Friends in cooperation with PETA.