A campaigning vegan group has won the right to state that the milk sitting on millions of breakfast tables is not produced ‘humanely’.

The organisation Go Vegan World painted a horrifying picture of young calves being taken from their mothers so we can have the milk they produce.

The portrayal drew complaints from the dairy industry that it painted an inaccurate and misleading picture.

Go Vegan World's horrifying picture of young calves being taken from their mothers so we can have the milk they produce was backed by the Advertising Standards Authority

However, the Advertising Standards Authority has backed the accuracy of the vegan message in a new blow to dairy farmers.

Sales of cow’s milk have been declining in recent years as consumers switch to non-animal alternatives made from almond and soya.

At the same time milk has suffered from the fact that a growing number of people self-diagnose themselves as lactose intolerant.

All this has been exacerbated by campaigns from animal welfare groups arguing that dairy farming is inherently cruel.

The advertisement stated ‘Humane milk is a myth. Don’t buy it’ and featured a picture of a cow behind a piece of barbed wire.

The ad carried smaller text, which stated: ‘I went vegan the day I visited a dairy. The mothers, still bloody from birth, searched and called frantically for their babies.

‘Their daughters, fresh from their mothers’ wombs but separated from them, trembled and cried piteously, drinking milk from rubber teats on the wall instead of their mothers’ nurturing bodies. All because humans take their milk.’

The ASA received seven complainants from people who believed that the ad did not accurately describe the way that dairy cattle are generally treated.

Current Government welfare rules, set by the farming department, Defra, recommend that a calf should be taken from its mother within 12-24 hours.

Sales of cow’s milk have been declining in recent years as consumers switch to non-animal alternatives made from almond and soya

Go Vegan World argued its ad did not deny this or misrepresent the situation. It also argued the exact timing of the separation was irrelevant because the ad was commenting on the injustice of separating cow and calf.

Clearing the ad, the ASA said it understood the complainants were concerned the ad implied a significant number of dairy farms did not comply with animal welfare standards in place in the UK, and milk production was therefore ‘inhumane’ in that sense.

But it concluded: ‘We understood that Defra recommended that calves should be kept with their mothers for at least 12 and preferably 24 hours after birth.

‘Although the language used to express the claims was emotional and hard-hitting, we understood it was the case that calves were generally separated from their mothers very soon after birth, and we therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to materially mislead readers.’

In March, the Daily Mail revealed that once taken from their mothers, the calves can then be kept in rows of small pens for weeks before moving on to farms where they will later be impregnated to begin life as dairy cows.