Kinder Dairy Farming

Last month, I read an article in Global Animal about a revolution in the farming industry. This was a nice departure from the many stories exposing animal abuse that goes on in factory farms via undercover footage revealed recently. Well, not all animal farms are bad. It seems some dairy farmers believe that if you make your cows comfortable and happy, they will produce more and better quality milk. These folks are going beyond the basics of providing food, comfortable temperatures, and room to move around for their bovines. Some are shelling out money for cow water beds and chiropractors to repair injuries suffered on the concrete, the birthing process, or from getting stepped on from other cows. Getting chiropractic adjustments helps keep cows mellow and productive.

I used to love milk, and grew up being taught that it was necessary for healthy bones. As an adult, I realized the oddness in adults drinking milk. After all, the process of getting the milk means taking a baby cow away from its mother. The cow becomes depressed and is usually over-worked to continually provide milk for human consumption. Sounds pretty cruel to me. Maybe mother nature didn't intend for humans to drink the milk of other species into their adulthood? However, even though I've chosen to no longer consume dairy products, I'm glad to see dairy farmers trying to make the arrangement mutually beneficial to some degree!

PHOTO CREDIT: AP Photo/Dinesh Ramde - Veterinarian performing a full-length spinal message on a dairy cow.