Thousands of cows' lives to be transformed for better
An estimated 125,400 dairy cows will live better lives, following World Animal Protection's call on Arvind Dairy and Happy Milk to move to higher welfare farming. Arvind Dairy, has a significant presence and a growing market share in North India, sourcing its milk from over 25,000 rural farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh region.
'Happy Milk' runs its own organic farm in Tumkur, near Bengaluru, which is currently home to over 400 cows and has partnered with a German tech partner, GEA, as well as with Israeli consultants so as to enhance the quality of their milk and the health of their cows.
India is home to over 299 million cattle, the largest population of cows in the world. Millions suffer the worst cruelty, living in appalling urban and peri-urban dairies, located in cities and suburbs. World Animal Protection has disturbing evidence of this systemic cruelty.
Dairy animals are tied up to short ropes round the clock, unable to turn around or move, living in overcrowded, barren conditions. They are forced to lie on hard floors in their own urine and faeces, with a lack of clean water, air and shelter. This causes them stress, sores and infections, with little access to veterinary care.
This also leads to routine overuse of antibiotics, a common measure to prop up animals with weaker immune systems sometimes caused by poor welfare. All this causes immense pain and daily suffering to urban and peri-urban dairy animals. Cattle are also abandoned on the streets, foraging in garbage and in the middle of bustling roads, eating unsuitable food and drinking foul water.
World Animal Protection has been reaching out to dairy companies to help improve the lives of the largest numbers of animals. World Animal Protection welcomes this commitment by Arvind Dairy and Happy Milk and urges other dairy companies and retailers to rise to the challenge.'World Animal Protection's digital campaign "Where does your milk come from?" aims to create greater awareness about this issue.