Are there any cruelty free milk products in the UK (esp cardiff)?!
Answers: I cannot find a milk replacement that I am happy with (soya - yuck) and milk production I have heard is very cruel. I drink it a lot and would like to change to a supplier that is kinder. Organic milk is said to be better but is this true? I don't mind paying more for milk if its animal friendly.
I'd have to disagree with the first answerer. I actually think dairy farming is crueler than the meat industry. As it's often said, dairy cows are the hardest working animals on the farm. To make the most milk (and profit) dairy cows are impregnated just a few weeks after they give birth so they are producing milk and nurturing a cow inside her at the same time. The stress on her body is huge and she has a 1 in 3 chance of developing mastitis and she could be one of the 50% of cows that are lame due to the sheer weight of having to do this. I could go on, but I'm sure you already know of the cruelty involved (having their young taken away etc) which is why you're asking this.
The first answerer would have a valid point if animals were our sole means for food and drink but they're not and animal products are in fact harmful to the human body so there is no justification other than taste to make animals suffer and, to me, this is a very trivial and quite frankly ridiculous reason to cause so much pain and misery.
I'm afraid that there is no 100% humane way of obtaining milk. Organic milk may be better for you because chemicals aren't used but they are far from animal friendly. I used to drink lots of milk everyday too and hated soymilk. I did get used to it though... I had the sweetened version with my cereal every morning and after about 2 weeks I actually started liking it. I think with any food, if you have a small amount every day then I've heard that you stop hating it. I can't even imagine going back to cow's milk now. If you still can't get used t it then you could try others like rice or almond milk? And if you really can't even drink them then maybe you could think about reducing the amount of cow's milk you drink... every little helps! Good Luck.
You're taking the milk that the cow produces for her own calf. There's no kind way to do that. It's like milking women to feed aliens.
Forget about that and drink your milk. If you eat meat, that's a lot more cruel than milking. The cow can go after milking. Those sent in for meat never return.
This "animal rights" thing is going out of proportion. I understand that people hurting animals for fun are sick and I'd like them to be stopped (not by government intervention and not with my money) but milking and butchering are ways to feed ourselves. What do you want? Respect and honor to the slaughtered cow? Do your part, say a prayer before your next burger.
Organic milk is marginally better in that it proves ther cows are not fed artificial hormones. But the other issues with milk production remain.
Your goal of "cruelty free milk products" is admirable but not achievable.
Organic status is aimed at the consumer, not cows. Other than milking your own house cow for a small portion of milk while she is naturally lactating ( as people used to do ) there will be no cruelty free milk.
Paying more for local milk is probably better, but its marginal. Reducing milk consumption would also help.
Have you tried rice milk or other homemade milks ? You can get machines to make "milk" from cereals - that might taste nicer.
Here are some words on other aspects of milk production you may want to consider, its not scaremongering, its what i see every week:
Artificial incemination every year
Cows would naturally calve every 2-3 years. Dairy farms artificially inceminate them every 11 months.
Hormone enriched feed
The feed they are given is enriched with artificial growth foods. these are always made with cattle meat protiens.
Bribe/feed caged carousels
These suck. They are large rotating carousels where the cows are caged in a space where they cannot move. They have "black boxes" on thier legs which communicate with the main operating computer. They are fed just the right amount of food depending on how much milk they gave yesterday. They have added growth food if thier production drops
One person can milk about 400 cattle on a carousel so there is no time for checking the animals health - they just milk them dry and kick them out.
killing bulls, excess calves and free martins at 1 week old
All bulls are killed at 1 week old. They do not keep any back for breeding as they bring in new blood lines. In the UK we don't use dairy bull calves for veal anymore.
They kill all free martins as there is a good chance they will be barren
Strangly, they feel these animals with colostrum at birth to keep them alive, but then kill them a week later.
excess feeding to produce 60 lites of milk per day
The growth food is all designed to produce excess milk. Cows are naturally designed to produce about 15 litres.
intensive rearing means low husbandry checks
As mentioned above, most automatic dairies have one milkmaid per session, thats it. I know a dairy farm with 1200 cattle and 3 employees. Tell me how they can every check the cattle....Talking to one farmer this year he has just lost 17 cattle in 2 months. He only phoned DEFRA after the tenth one died, until then, he didn't care why they died, it was just a fact of business to him.
removing calves from mothers after colostrum feed
This is stressful, cows bawl for weeks for thier young, calling them to be fed. Obviously the calve cannot "run to mom" because its in dog food by now.
killing the cow at 7 years old
Cows can naturally live to 20 years old. Production dairy cows are killed after 4-6 births so are never kept after 7 years old.
Hope that helps.
There is no such thing as a cruelty free milk product.
I use oat milk. Doesn't have the funky aftertaste soya can have. It's ok in tea and coffee to, and actually whitens it, rather than making it grey like rice and soya milks.