'gau raksha' - or cow protection

Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO)

How dairies exploit cows

demand for milk and dairy products has increased

'Ever seen a pig suckle a dog?'

NEW DELHI: Even as some Hindutva groups take- to ridiculous lengths, one can be almost certain that none of them knows drinking milk is likely very cruel to dairy animals like cows and buffaloes.Milk, in India at least, is seen as the panacea for all ills. Not just that, the consumption of milk and milk products is also seen as a sign of prosperity in an India where milk was expensive and a luxury before the White Revolution made it a household staple.The New Delhi-based- animal rights wants to change all of this by highlighting that drinking milk is exceptionally cruel to cows, and - as a beverage - completely unnecessary for the health of adults.Next week, the NGO will launch Don't Get Milked, an online campaign that seeks to question, and reverse the "exploitative" relationship between modern dairy consumers and animals.Over the years, theso much that it's impossible for dairy businesses to cope with it without subjecting their animals to cruelty."Let's begin with the birth of a calf. No sooner than the baby is born, it's separated from its mother - a devastating trial both for both animals. While female calves are allowed to live, most male calves - which won't grow up to produce milk - are simply sold to slaughterhouses or abandoned on the streets," said Arpan Sharma , a director at FIAPO , to timesofindia.com.With her offspring gone, the mother doesn't have a psychological trigger to help her lactate, that is, produce milk. "The only way to get milk out of her then is to inject her with the hormone oxytocin. It's illegal to do so , but all dairies use the hormone," Sharma said.As for the female calves that are spared the trip to the abattoir, when they grow old, they'll be forced to become pregnant through artificially insemination - a process that Sharma says involves forced vaginal penetration. "If the cow is truly our mother, and we all believe that it is, then how can we tolerate practices which are akin to rape?" he asked.Life on a dairy farm is no picnic either. Animals aren't allowed to move around freely and are tethered using short leashes or confined in extremely small spaces. And since they spend most of their time on concrete floors, up to 95% of them become lame.FIAPO wants to educate people about this cruelty, but at the same time it also wants the populace to know that milk may not be necessary for humans' diet.Aside from humans, no other mammal species consumes milk produced by another mammal species, Sharma said. "Humans do need to consume milk - their mothers' - but only up to a certain age. If they needed it after that, nature would've done something about it," Sharma believes."Have you ever seen a pig suckle a dog? Then how can we consume the milk of cows?"Here's the Don't Get Milked campaign video.