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Article PETA’s ‘Stolen Babies’ Anti-Dairy Campaign Leaves Sour Taste

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Animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a controversial anti-dairy campaign featuring pregnant Australian DJ Tigerlily.

The campaign, which includes the slogan ‘What If They Took Your Baby Away?’ claims that the dairy industry steals calves from their mothers, and urges Australians to ‘go vegan’.

Tigerlily, whose real name is Dara Lawson, stars in the PETA campaign, in which she called on her fans and almost 600,000 Instagram followers to ‘consider the cruelty behind each glass of cows’ milk or slice of cheese’.

“Some people are surprised to learn that cows only make milk because they’re mothers,” Tigerlily explains in the campaign ad.

“Because of the human appetite for dairy products like milk and cheese, cows in dairy operations are denied the right to feed their calves the milk that nature intended for them.”

She also claims that cows used in the dairy industry are, “forcibly impregnated over and over again and then their babies are taken away from them shortly after birth”.

In the ad, which features images of dairy farms, Tigerlily, an animal rights activist, is seen crying in a baby’s nursery as photos are taken for the campaign.

The ad attracted hundreds of comments on Instagram, both in support and against the campaign, with some indicating that the comparison to stealing children is insensitive to the Stolen Generations, a period in Australia’s history when Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families via government policies.

“Saying ‘imagine they stole your baby’ like it’s some outrageous concept. Let’s not forget the babies and children that were stolen from their families during colonisation, and the babies and children that are still removed at alarming rates within Aboriginal communities,” one person commented.

Tigerlily has since removed the Instagram post, as has PETA. The pregnant DJ said she was ‘very sorry for the associations that have been made to The Stolen Generation’.

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Others criticised the campaign for different reasons.

“Do you realise the affect on the Australian economy if they were to shutdown the dairy industry! Wake up to yourself.”

“As an ex-vegan and registered midwife, this campaign is incredibly misleading and tone deaf. No explanation needed why. How disappointing for your fans.”

A Dairy Australia spokesperson told Mouths of Mums that the health and wellbeing of its animals is its number one priority.

“Providing the best care for our cows is not only essential for milk production, it’s also our moral responsibility. We’re committed to continuous improvement, and report transparently on how we are progressing and where we need to do more.”

Dairy Australia says early separation of calves from cows and milking as soon as possibly after birth ‘substantially reduces the risk of mastitis in cows’.

“This practice ensures calves are fed with sufficient colostrum, aren’t exposed to adverse weather, and safeguards them against environmental contamination from manure from adult animals.”

In relation to artificial insemination, Dairy Australia claims it has a range of benefits including providing access to the best genetics and supporting the animal health.

“Cows are unlikely to conceive immediately after giving birth, and if they do, the pregnancy may be non-viable. Therefore, farmers and highly trained Artificial Insemination technicians ensure a reasonable amount of time is given, which is usually 40-50 days later.”

Dairy Australia says it understands the community has questions about the industry and has created the You Ask, We Answer platform for people to ask questions and get evidenced-based answers.

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  • Stolen generation doesn’t need this. Animal welfare neither, nor famines who have lost kids.
    Peta take the shock approach, often.Not sure this sits well as far as getting people to think about the realities of the majority of dairy farming… just upsets a lot of unrelated and different groups.

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  • I no longer read any adverts from PETA because they never seem to get all the facts before they make them.

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  • I’m vegetarian and mindful to ethics relating to animal welfare, however generally find the PETA averts a bit extreme for the general population. Kids see these adverts and can be very traumatising.

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  • Although I understand the concern for animal welfare, I think PETA is an organisation that often does more harm than good.

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  • Such a pity that PETA doesn’t go out to many farms and see the love and care that most farmers have for their cows and calves which they usually let their children rear by bottle feeding them. No way are these farmers cruel to the young calves or mother cows, perhaps if they just concentrated on the huge conglomerates that are into the industry they may be accepted for what they say.

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  • As someone who had cows that we milked every morning, I can’t believe how crazy this idea is. Our calves were taken from the cow a couple of days later and kept together. They were fed from bottles and we, as children had the joy of feeding them. The calves were like our pets and there was no distress to either mother or baby.

    • I get what you’re are saying and am sure a lot of farmers have a love for their animals, but still; what if someone would do this to us and our babies ?

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  • I dont know how to feel about a lot of the PETA campaigns in general

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  • Are cows like humans in that the more milk used the more they make? I know people that have 10 yo and can still produce milk, it comes back to supply and demand

    • Yes….cows are like human
      Supply and demand as the calf grow its need for more food grows so the more suckling the calf does the more the cow produces milk

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  • I have read this article twice. I don’t feel right commenting on this post as I have lots of different feelings about it.

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  • So they’ve apologised and can re do the ad. How do people not know that cows produce milk because they’ve had a baby and the babies then get taken away. Maybe it was a good thing people learnt something

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  • The apology appears sincere and they can revisit the campaign.

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  • It’s a very controversial issue. I’m am not vegan by any means and enjoy milk and love, love, love cheese, however, we are destroying our planet with our practices. Farms require cleared land and there are so many of us now that we need more and more to support our love of meat and dairy. Speaking of the dairy industry, I recently visited a dairy farm and the cows were all very happy and healthy. They were actually milked by a state of the art robot system and even got to choose when they were milked and got treats and back scratches too. I also visited the calves, who were all kept together in a creche. They don’t realise they were taken from their mothers and if the babies are taken away immediately from the mother cow, I dare say the mother soon forgets she had a baby. That’s the way of nature. Harsh but true- cows don’t have the same brain capacity that we do and they won’t pine for something they never bonded with.

    • Cows do have the capasicity to feel sorrow when their calves are taken away from them …have you ever heard a cow bellow for their young
      My uncle owned a dairy farm and it happened quite regularly

      • I agree, cows feel emotion just as other animals and humans do.

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  • I agree there is cruelty behind each glass of milk

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  • Why is her hair blue. I’m all for the ethical treatment of animals. But who gets to choose and define those ethics. We know how detrimental a vegan diet is to our body let alone pregnancy. It ages the body irrevocably. It’s always going to exist there will always be a market shouldnt we go back to more natural and sustainable rather than mass marketed. These shocking fear mongering campaigns don’t work on the desensitised masses anymore

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  • I find this debate to be too difficult. I really would like to put my head in the sand for this one.

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  • The messages they were trying to send across – i get it. People are overly critical always wanting to compare something to something else. Its a hard world!

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  • Even if you don’t equate the removal of calves from their mothers as to that of a human baby being taken away from it’s mother, you cannot deny that it is cruel. Cows are sentient beings and mourn the calf that is taken away from them. This horrible cycle is repeated over and over again, of artificial insemination, another pregnancy, then another baby taken from them until they are no longer able to produce enough milk for human requirements, at which point they are sent to a slaughterhouse. While their calves are either sent for slaughter if they are male, or raised away from their mothers to be the next generation of milk machines if they are female. This was one of the things that turned me vegan. As I finally recognised, that even if I wasn’t the one taking the calves away from their mothers, by buying dairy products, I was paying for this to be done to countless animals. Why would I pay for so much suffering purely for something for me to eat or drink that lasts only a few minutes, while their suffering is endless? There is a serenity and peace that comes from knowing that you are not causing animals pain, I wish that I could have learnt this lesson 20 years ago.

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  • Wow, each to their own. I love dairy and I don’t criticise others on their choice of lifestyle. I know many mothers that produce milk even though their kids are older and not having breast milk.

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  • I did a farm course in high school. Our dairy cows kept and fed their calves. They weren’t just turning them out for the purpose of milk!
    I’m sure that can’t be said for all dairy farmers, though.
    And as sad as the mistreatment of the cows is, this ad seems to be missing the a hugely important aspect. Some people need dairy for survival.
    I have a young child, who due to many additional needs, gets most of her nutritional needs from milk, yoghurt and cheese. For two years, cows milk was the bulk of what she consumed. Without it, she (and I’m sure others with varying needs and eating disorders) quite possibly have survived. Dairy is essential, like it or not.

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  • OMG…. they take way too far…

    Reply
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