AS YOU sip on your latte or slug back your smoothie, chances are you’re not worrying about how the milk in your drink was produced.

But the grim reality is a far cry from the idyllic green pastures we may imagine.

As demand for dairy in Australia spirals, cows are paying the price, according to a report by animal protection institute Voiceless.

They are often bred to the point of exhaustion to make them lactate, forcefully impregnated so they give birth every 13 months for up to seven years, says the report.

The industry is accused of disturbing practices including premature mother-calf separation, slaughter of unwanted calves, painful mutilation (such as dehorning and tail docking) and leaving cows increasingly susceptible to injury and diseases from lameness and mastitis.

Once a cow’s milk supply declines, they are sent to slaughter.

“For most dairy cows, life is hard, sometimes painful and invariably short,” Voiceless spokeswoman Elise Burgess told news.com.au.

“Voiceless’s aim in writing this report has been to bring attention to these (welfare) issues; to lift the marketing and publicity veil and look beyond the photos of happy cows in green fields. Sadly, there is a distorted and inaccurate picture of the often harsh reality of life for the majority of high production dairy cows.”

Calf welfare is also highlighted in the report, which found that 800,000 calves are killed every year after being labelled a by-product. According to the findings, 35,000 of these will be slaughtered at birth while 623,000 will be sold for slaughter for use in products such as pet food, veal and leather.

The way they are killed was also an area of concern, with calves slaughtered on-farm by means of chemical euthanasia, firearm or stunning by a captive bolt. “Alarmingly, it is legal to kill a newborn calf by ‘blunt force trauma’ which involves striking the head with a blunt instrument,” the report reads.

Calves are separated from their mothers within 12 hours of birth, “causing pain and suffering to both”. They are also subjected to “disbudding” — the removal of the unformed horn using caustic paste, hot iron, knife or other device — when they are less than two months old.

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The report also looks at welfare concerns around live animal exports, which results in the export of tens of thousands of Australian “breeder” dairy cows each year.

Voiceless, which releases its in-depth report into the dairy industry on January 28, said Australian cows have been selectively bred to increase average lactation from around 2800 to 5500 litres a year, double that of 30 years ago. The Life of the Dairy Cow: A Report on the Australian Dairy Industry is the result of two years of analysis of current scientific research, and has been reviewed by five animal welfare experts from Voiceless’ Scientific Expert Advisory Council and endorsed by leading global animal protection groups.

Written with the help of contributing author Dr Deidre Wicks, it contains recommendations for legislators, industry and consumers while “lifting the veil on the silent suffering of the Australian dairy cow”.

Ms Burgess said many Australians continue to consume huge quantities of cheap dairy under the assumption that it is essential for good health, that it is a “no harm” industry and that dairy cows consistently lactate and accordingly “need to be milked”.

“They do not draw the connection that, in order to produce milk, dairy cows must first be continually re-impregnated; that forced and repeated pregnancies increase cows’ susceptibility to painful disorders, like lameness and mastitis; and that some 800,000 unwanted ‘bobby calves’ are killed each year within a week after birth.”

She said farmers often felt stuck in the middle, with domestic and international demand for dairy produce booming in recent years, while the price of Australian milk has sharply declined.

Consumer demand for cheap dairy products has increased pressures on both dairy farmers and dairy cows. To compete commercially, farmers have been forced to maximise milk production while reducing their overall operating costs, Ms Burgess said.

“As part of this process, Australian dairy cows have been bred to produce double the amount of milk they did 30 years ago, exacerbating these welfare concerns.

“Currently, Australians consume around 107 litres of milk, 14kg of cheese and 4kg of butter per person per year.”

Ms Burgess said the aim of the report was not to make people stop consuming dairy but rather to spark discussion and debate among farmers, industry bodies, policy-makers and consumers about the animals’ welfare.

Voiceless has met with Australian Dairy Farmers and Dairy Australia and discussed some of its key welfare concerns, and where it feels the industry could make significant improvements.

It said that while the industry does have welfare systems in place, they are predominantly focused on issues that impact on production (such as mastitis) rather than cow and calf welfare.

“Voiceless would like to see a collaborative approach between farmer, industry, advocate, consumer and government to make the welfare of the dairy cow a priority, not just her productive output,” Ms Burgess said.

The group said that ultimately the report aimed to shine light on the Australian dairy industry, which has avoided much of the scrutiny that has been levelled against other animal industries because of a false perception of dairy as a benign product.

Noel Campbell, President of Australian Dairy Farmers, told news.com.au: “We’ve had discussions with Voiceless over the years, and we’ve put forward our position.

“We have a pretty good track record with dairy cow health and welfare. Cows are out in pasture, and so on.

“We’re willing to discuss whatever comes out in the report.”