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The average person thinks calves get to stay with their mothers, out in the paddock until they’re grown, or at least weaned. I used to think that too, but they don’t. Soon after birth, the farmer comes along, picks up the freshly-washed and loved newborn calf and heaves it into a trailer before driving off. The mother cow, naturally horrified and distressed out of her mind, chases alongside the trailer, bellowing and calling to her baby, while the confused and terrified calf cries back to the mother. Upon reaching the cowshed, the cow is directed into a paddock with other grieving mothers, while the calf is hidden away in a barn. If they are a heifer and get to live, with a bit of luck they will see each other again in a couple of years when that calf is fully grown. If they are a bobby or beef animal, they will never get to see each other again. And so the endless cycle goes on and on. It’s true what people say about cows bellowing and crying for days. They’re searching for their lost babies. I never thought it was okay to take newborn calves away from their mothers. It seemed crazy to me. What was the point of us humans feeding the calves with a rubber teat feeder? Why didn’t we just leave them with their mothers? Wasn’t that what nature intended? Indeed, but if we did that, the calves would drink all the milk and then there wouldn’t be enough for us humans. Taking the calves away from their mothers meant we could control how much the calves drank and maximized the amount of milk the farmer got from the cow.

Jackie Scurr, ex-dairy farmer turned vegan