A breaking Animal Outlook investigation has exposed extreme abuse of cows at massive California dairy factory farm Dick Van Dam Dairy--whose milk has been linked to the nation’s largest dairy cooperative: Dairy Farmers of America. Take action today: Tell Dairy Farmers of America to shift away from cruelty to compassionate vegan milk.
We followed a truck from Dick Van Dam directly to a plant that produces Alta Dena and TruMoo, brands owned by Dean Foods. Dean Foods recently filed for bankruptcy and the majority of its assets (including Alta Dena and TruMoo) are now owned by Dairy Farmers of America, the nation’s largest dairy cooperative.
Dean Foods (which continues to operate under this brand name) claims to require humane treatment of cattle at all times and says it expects the same of its suppliers. Yet at Dick Van Dam Dairy, one of its suppliers, our investigator witnessed gentle mother cows and their babies enduring daily horrors and abuse.
The truth is that the dairy industry is fueled by suffering and death, which is evident in the countless lifeless bodies of calves our investigator saw at Dick Van Dam Dairy and the sick cows who were heartlessly dragged through the dirt and left to die.
At this factory farm, Animal Outlook’s investigator experienced the dairy industry’s cruel life--and death--cycle: calves being born just to live tragically short lives or become milking machines themselves, cows being regularly impregnated so their bodies produce the milk people drink, and cows being violently abused throughout their lives until they are considered “spent” and slaughtered for cheap beef.
At facilities like Dick Van Dam, scared and injured cows are crowded into what the industry calls the “milking parlor” and hooked up to mechanized milking machines. The milking aisle was so crowded that cows were forced to trample each other. The investigator saw one cow crawl helplessly through a thick layer of feces on the ground while a worker sprayed her with a firehose. She was then dragged by a metal clamp on her hips and lifted and dangled about 20 feet in the air with a tractor.
Sick or injured cows, referred to in the industry as “downer cows,” were often moved with this cruel device. Many cows who collapsed from over-exertion or abuse were also violently kicked and had fingers forcefully jammed into their eyes while lying helpless on the ground.
We submitted our investigative materials to law enforcement urging enforcement of animal cruelty and neglect laws, but so far the authorities have not taken any action. We continue to pursue other avenues for enforcement. In addition, the Animal Legal Defense Fund just filed a lawsuit based on the cruelty uncovered in this investigation.
But the suffering isn’t confined to Dick Van Dam Dairy: Animal Outlook has documented similar abuse and neglect at dairies across the country. And as millions of consumers wake up to the inherent misery behind dairy, they are choosing plant-based foods.
In response to this surging demand for compassionate foods, The Economist aptly named 2019 the “year of the vegan.” Non-dairy milks already comprised 13 percent of total milk sales by 2018, and the market for plant-based milk products is projected to grow to over $37 billion by 2025. According to Forbes, in 2019, “U.S. consumers spent nearly $1.9 billion on plant-based milks over the past year, making milk the top-selling plant-based category.”
Consumer taste for cow’s milk is souring.