International Milk Day on June 1st

Overbreeding for extremely high milk yields and huge udders leads to major health problems in dairy cows: These include, above all, udder inflammation, metabolic diseases and lameness. The painful dehorning of a few days old calves with a hot fuel rod without local anesthesia is also standard in German dairy farms. For many cows in Germany, life in so-called loose stalls or – even worse – in permanent tethering is the sad reality. Only a minority of German dairy cows have access to pasture in summer. In 2020, over a million cows were still tethered – and had no opportunity to move. The mental and health consequences of tethering are dramatic for the animals: any locomotion and exploratory behavior are impossible and the animals cannot engage in social behavior. The restricted movement and lying in stalls that are often too narrow without bedding lead to increased damage to the ankle and knee joints, for example bursitis or abscesses.

So that the calf does not drink the mother’s milk, the two are separated from each other immediately after birth. This prevents a natural, close mother-child relationship from developing. Having to grow up without a mother, the calves suffer from a lack of maternal care and the mothers suffer from having their calves taken away from them. Male calves cannot give milk, nor are the male calves of the high-performance dairy breeds suitable for fattening. For this reason, they are usually sold at the age of two weeks, which is far too young. The same fate befalls the proportion of female calves that are not used for offspring. Since nobody wants these animals on the German market, the transports often go abroad. Although the calves are still dependent on milk, they are sent on cross-border transports lasting up to 20 hours without being able to be provided with age-appropriate liquid feed. They suffer from thirst and hunger. Many of them die on the long journey or in the days after arrival due to the hardships. Since the immune system of the calves is not yet developed at this age, these animals are almost always treated with antibiotics. This promotes the formation of resistant germs, which can also cost people their lives. Because the more antibiotics are administered in animal husbandry, the more likely it is that resistance to these drugs will develop and then render them ineffective.

If you don’t want to do without dairy products but want to do something for the animals, you should use organic and pasture milk. In organic farming, cows have more space in the barn, exercise outside of the barn and in summer usually also have access to pasture. If consumers of conventional milk want to be sure that the cows have not spent their entire lives in a barn, they can use «pasture milk labels». These guarantee at least seasonal grazing.

But be careful: Neither the EU organic directives nor the specifications of pasture milk labels prohibit separating a calf from its mother immediately after birth and selling it in a conventional fattening barn with fully slatted pens without any exercise. Dehorning is also not prohibited for pasture milk and organic – although it may not be done routinely with organic, it is still carried out very often. Only the Demeter and Verbund Ökohöfe associations prohibit dehorning in principle. At Bioland, Biokreis and Gäa, anesthesia and pain treatment are prescribed for dehorning.

Tethering is also not completely forbidden with most organic labels, but is possible in individual cases for small farms in combination with grazing and regular exercise during the stable season. Exceptions with a complete ban are Biopark, Ecoland and Verbund Ökohöfe. At Bioland and Gäa there is an absolute ban on tying up young cattle under the age of one. However, according to organic guidelines, it is not possible for organic milk to mean permanent and lifelong tethering, as can still be the case with conventional milk, especially from Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg (e.g. at the Bauer and Zott dairies).

From an animal welfare point of view, the best alternative for dairy products is mother-bonded calf rearing, in which the calves have social contact with their mother. However, this practice is still very rare and some farms only let the calves live with the mother for a few weeks and only occasionally or let the calves suckle from a nurse cow. The Brudertier Germany initiative is committed to giving such products a label on the market. This can be used to support farms that want to raise their calves on their own farm with their mothers.

If you don’t want to let animals suffer, you can use plant-based alternatives: these are becoming increasingly popular in Germany.

• Establishment of animal-friendly, legal minimum standards for keeping cattle for more than six months (e.g. soft bedding, more space, outdoor exercise, access to pasture)
• Barn systems that are suitable for horned cattle should be made the standard so that dehorning can be consistently banned
• Ban on the transport of unweaned calves up to the age of three months
• Ban on tethering
• Ban on the use of high-performance breeds, which tend to increase health problems due to breeding
• Promotion of mother-bound calf rearing

Animal-friendly housing standards for calves (e.g. group housing, soft bedding, lots of space, outdoor exercise)

You can find information on mother-bound calf rearing here.

A list of selected farms with mother-bonded calf rearing can be found in this position paper on page 11. You can find information on the amendment to the Animal Welfare Act here.