The
following is a correspondence that Mother Cow
recently had with the Campaigns Coordinator of
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
here in India. PETA recommends a boycott of milk
and all milk products as a solution to the unethical
treatment of cows. In my reply to PETA we have
attempted to point out that surely more effective
measures could be put into practice to prevent
the unethical treatment of cows (especially here
in India) and that a total boycott of milk would
eventually lead to the extinction of the cow as
a species.
On 4/2/04, "Dilpreet Beasley" <DilpreetB
at petaindia.org> wrote:
Dear Mother Cow
Thank you for writing to People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals.
The cow is revered in India, her special status
enshrined by the law. But today, as you walk the
streets of India, in every alley you will find
a cow rummaging through the garbage for food.
Every few days we read about a cow dead with tons
of plastic bags in his or her stomach.
The 'holy cow' meets with a worse fate in the
country where no devout Hindu can go through life
without paying obeisance to Gau mata and where
the Prime Minister does not file his election
nomination without the mandatory gau poojan (cow
worship).
As you are aware, most dairy products come from
cows who are treated horrendously. Did you know
that when Gandhi heard of cruel practices to increase
the milk yield of cows in Calcutta he gave up
milk.
For their milk, the cow is forced into yearly
pregnancies. After giving birth she is milked
for 10 months but will be artificially inseminated
during her third month so that she is milked even
when she is pregnant. The demanded of production
of milk is more than her body can give. So she
starts breaking down body tissue to produce milk.
The result is an illness called ketosis.
Most of the day the cow is tied up in a narrow
stall usually wallowing in her own excrement.
She gets mastitis because the hands that milk
her are rough and usually unclean. She gets rumen
acidosis from bad food and lameness. To keep the
animals at high levels of productivity, dairy
farmers keep them constantly pregnant through
the use of artificial insemination. Farmers also
use an array of drugs, including bovine growth
hormone (BGH); prostaglandin, which is used to
bring a cow into heat whenever the farmer wants
to have her inseminated; antibiotics; and even
tranquilizers, in order to influence the productivity
and behavior of the cows.
In the villages they practice phukan, a method
of milking a cow. A stick is poked into the cow's
uterus and wiggled, causing her intense pain.
Villagers believe this leads to more milk. In
the cities they are given two injections of oxytocin
every day to make the milk come faster. This gives
her labor pains twice a day. Her uterus develops
sores and makes her sterile prematurely. Oxytocin
is banned for use on animals but it is sold in
every cigarette shop around a dairy. Every illiterate
milkman knows the word. In human beings, oxytocin
causes hormonal imbalances, weak eyesight, miscarriages,
and cancer. Recently, Gujarat started raiding
dairies for oxytocin. In one day, they found 350,000
ampoules in just Ahmedabad!
Each year 20 per cent of these dairy cows are
sent illegally by truck and train to slaughter
houses. Or they are starved to death by letting
them loose in the cities. Cows on today's farms
live only about four to five years, as opposed
to the life expectancy of 20-25 years enjoyed
by cows of an earlier era. No cow lives out her
normal life cycle. She is milked, made sick and
then killed. Even worse happens to her child.
The male calves are tied up and starved to death.
Or sent to the slaughter houses. Even Dr Kurien
admits that in Mumbai every year 80,000 calves
are forcibly put to death.
Perhaps the greatest pain suffered by cows in
the dairy industry is the repeated loss of their
young. Female calves may join the ranks of the
milk producers, but the males are generally taken
from their mothers within 24 hours of birth and
sold at auction either for the notorious veal
industry or to beef producers. Also, once the
cow stops giving milk, they are sold to illegal
traders and they end up as someone's bag or shoes.
Milk stables which do not have place for cows,
leave them out on the road to forage in trash
cans for food.
Getting the cows involved in the Urine therapy
is not the solution. In China, bear gall bladders
and bile products are used to treat a number of
complaints, such as fever, conjunctivitis and
liver disease. However as the demand for bile
increased, Singapore now has a thriving trade,
in illegal bear farming. Similarly, if the demand
for cow urine increases, we could be facing a
similar trade in India, where cows become machines
and are kept in tiny cramped sheds with no proper
food or water.
In traditional India, the cows roamed free and
were milked by hand. The males were castrated
(this turns a bull into a steer), and then used
to plow the fields. The animals were revered.
Their manure sweetened the soil, and was also
dried and used as a cooking fuel, and even a building
material. The animals were part of the ecosystem,
part of the culture, part of the spirituality,
and part of people's families. It can be painful
to grasp how far we have strayed from a harmonious,
credible, and sustainable relationship with these
beautiful creatures.
In today's day and age, the best way to help the
cow, is by spreading awareness among people for
giving up milk and not using any of their products
for our use.
Keep up the good work!
Dilpreet Beasley
Campaigns Coordinator
Mother Cow replies to PETA as follows;
Dear Dilpreet Beasley
I have received your email above and noted the
contents carefully. Thank you for taking the time
to visit our website <http://www.mothercow.org>
and to write me such an informative letter.
It is indeed saddening to see how at present in
India there is such abuse, neglect, and utter
lack of concern for the well being of the cow
and the bull. Being an Indian and a Hindu it is
doubly saddening for me to see such a situation
wherein the cows and the bulls in India are not
even treated as well as the cats and dogs in western
countries.
The distressed condition of the cow and the bull
is mentioned in this country's great Sanskrit
literature, Srimad Bhagavatam. There it
is said that in Kali-yuga (the present modern
age) that the cow and the bull will be beaten
and abused by the lower class of men/women who
pose themselves as leaders. Indeed, it is the
duty of the leaders in India to uphold the law
and to see that the cows and bulls are protected
but this is not satisfactorily being done as you
have rightfully pointed out.
Honestly speaking, however, I was a bit surprised
to see that as a remedy for the distressed condition
of the cow and the bull that you have recommended
the total abnegation of milk and all products
derived thereof. I do not see how this boycott
of milk can actually help the cows and the bulls
which are suffering at the hands of people who
are themselves suffering from the lack of proper
knowledge of cow care and cow protection.
If we take the paradigm of a "no milk and
no milk product" conception and apply that
to all of humanity then what would be the use
or function of the cow in the civilized world?
My conclusion is that without a contribution of
milk to the human beings then the cow doesn't
have a contribution to society. And without that
the cows and bulls, which are domestic animals
since the beginning of human civilization, would
perish. So in effect if we totally abstained from
milk and milk products then the cows and bulls
would ultimately become extinct. I am sure that
is not what PETA has in mind.
Particularly here in India to encourage people
to abstain from milk and milk products as a way
to safe the cows will for the most part fall on
deaf ears since the greater population here in
India is Hindu and all the Hindu rituals require
either milk, yogurt, or ghee (butter) to be preformed.
These rituals have been going on for tens of thousands
of years and are not likely to stop anytime soon.
Therefore, I think that any solution to a problem,
such as the ethical treatment of cows, should
take into consideration the deep routed beliefs
of the people in the country. So in a country
dominated by strong Hindu beliefs wherein milk,
yogurt, and ghee are a part of every religious
rite, the suggestion of abandoning milk is not
a good solution to the unethical treatment of
the cow.
Poverty and ignorance are also great obstacles
to overcome here in India. Many poor people keep
cows and sell the milk to maintain their otherwise
hand-to-mouth existence. If for example the wealthy
folks of this country gave up buying their milk
then the poor would sink even deeper into poverty.
Being a village person myself I have seen the
ignorance of village people (city people also)
when it comes to caring for the cow, but I must
also state that I have seen many families who
love and care for their cows dearly.
So considering the broader set of circumstances
(particularly here in India) I would think that
PETA and other sensitive minded organizations
should come together and insist that state and
central government agencies establish strict ethical
standards for the treatment of cows and other
domestic animals by which all dairy farms (other
farms) and individuals owning cows, etc must follow.
This is indeed no easy task but seems to me to
be a more plausible solution to the problem (and
one that the dairy industry might embrace) rather
than simply calling for the total boycott of milk.
In western countries I have heard that there are
labels and such placed on products to advertise
when a product is free from animal products or
free from animal cruelty (such as having been
tested on rats, mice, rabbits, etc). This then
gives the consumer a chance to patronize products
according to his or her convictions. So why not
work with the government to establish such standards
here in India?
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter
and I will be waiting with anticipation to hear
from you again soon.
Sincerely,
Mother Cow
