Animals\' Angels - wir sind bei den Tieren | we are there with the animals

Again and again after a life of exploitation we encounter dairy cows on trucks, at loading stations and slaughterhouses that are emaciated, weak, tired and often injured. They are regularly in such a poor state that they can’t even walk.
It is time to act.
Just in time for the World Dairy Summit in Berlin in September 2009, we started our campaign – “No milk today. Let’s talk about cows”.

Berlin, September 14 -27 2009: At approximately 400 advertising pillars and about 450 metro stations in the German capital, our posters were on display. Simultaneously, 600 postcards were displayed in numerous places of cultural interest. In addition, ANIMALS' ANGELS published a brochure just in time for the World Dairy Summit. This booklet can be ordered (only in German language) from our ».

During the Summit, ANIMALS' ANGELS was in Berlin seeking constructive dialogue with the leaders of the dairy industry.

Milk. Everyone drinks it. It is everywhere - in stores and in the conversations of politicians under constant pressure from the dairy industry. Milk lakes, low milk prices, milk quotas. But where does it come from? Nobody is talking about this – the exploitation and suffering of the "dairy cows". This must change.
We speak for those that suffer for the milk industry. Spending their whole - short -miserable lives in dark sheds. And we claim: This exploitation and poor treatment must stop.

In order to produce milk, a cow must bear a calf. From two years of age, a cow is artificially inseminated for the first time. After birth, the calf is taken away from its mother and is raised with milk from a bucket. Thereby, both mother and calf suffer enormous emotional stress. From the time the calf is born, the cow is milked twice a day.
To keep the "milk production” constant, "dairy cows" are constantly being inseminated and made pregnant for nearly their entire lives.

There are many different breeds of cattle - they are bred with the "benefits" in mind that they are supposed to bring. On most “dairy farms” today, you will find Holstein-Friesian cows, whose breeding seeks to ensure that they produce the maximum amount of milk. This breeding can be called a ‘suffering breed’, as it is connected to the cows with pain, suffering and disease. Some cows “give” more than 10,000 litres a year, which is almost 33 litres per day. To feed its calf, the cow would have to “give” only 8 litres.

Calves: Most male calves produced by "dairy cows" must leave the farm shortly after birth. They are often transported all across Europe to fattening farms. ANIMALS' ANGELS has filed complaints on several occasions to the EU-Commission. We have called for a transport time limit for unweaned animals to a maximum of eight hours. To other countries: For example every day, young calves are transported from Germany to Spain, Portugal or Italy. Occasionally, they are even transported thousands of miles to Russia and Morocco. To the slaughterhouse: As soon as the milk yield drops, disease or fertility problems arise, the so-called "spent dairy cows" will be taken to the slaughterhouse. ANIMALS' ANGELS has documented repeatedly that "dairy cows" after life-long exploitation, were just too exhausted to be able to walk on to the transport truck on their own.

In fact there is a general regulation about how to keep "farm animals", but there is no explicit regulation for cattle or cows, neither in the EU nor in Germany. The lack of regulation leads to "dairy cow" husbandry systems in place that have no set standards to meet and therefore, limits the possibilities of taking legal action to protect the cows.

The "tie-stalls" system where "dairy cows" are restrained inside barns for their entire lives are in operation all over Germany. More than one third of all the "dairy" cows in Germany are tied up in barns. In Bavaria more than 60% of the animals have to live under these circumstances. Scientific studies have demonstrated the adverse effects of tie-stalls on the physical and mental health of the animals.

Environment: German "dairy cows" eat between 150,000 to 300,000 tons of feed each day. For the cultivation of this feed much arable land and water is needed - and most of it in countries where not even the supply of food and drinking water for the population is assured.

Climate: For the cultivation of feed, the rainforest suffers extensive deforestation. Another major problem is the emission of methane gas. For one litre of milk (under conditions in Central Europe), about 15g of methane is excreted per cow. According to a UN report from 2006, "farm" animals produce 18% of the global greenhouse gas emissions.

3. World: A crazy cycle - The European Union imports Soya from poor countries, where people are starving. Soya is a valuable albuminous plant. The EU literally throws Soya into feeding troughs in order to produce meat and milk in abundance. These products are then in turn subsidised and exported back again to poor countries, where they are sold for low prices which in turn destroys the local market of the resident farmers.