Near naked protest aimed at persuading humans to stop drinking milk

Martin Shipton

A nearly naked 33-weeks pregnant charity worker staged a one-woman protest outside Cardiff Market to highlight what she argues is the dairy industry’s cruelty to calves.

Wearing little more than earrings resembling the tags spiked through cows’ ears, chains around her feet, and a milk-pumping bra, Kate Werner, who is expecting twins, drew attention to what she sees as a simple fact: that just like humans, cows produce milk after giving birth to nourish their babies.

She urged shoppers to leave cows and their calves in peace by going vegan.

Werner is the senior campaigns manager for PETA – The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation, a UK-based charity dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals.

She said: “Mother cows in the dairy industry are treated as milk-producing machines, forcibly impregnated again and again so the milk made for their calves can be stolen and sold to humans.

“As I approach the birth of my babies, it’s heartbreaking to think of other mothers having theirs taken from them shortly after they’re born, and how this could be ended if everyone chose vegan.”

Werner added: “Mother cows, like mothers of all species, form instant bonds with their newborns, but in the dairy industry, their beloved calves are taken away from them, often within hours of their birth. Cows are forcibly inseminated by workers who insert an arm all the way up to the elbow into the restrained cow’s rectum and insert a metal rod into the cow’s vagina to deliver semen.

“Newborn males are usually slaughtered for veal, while female calves endure the same fate as their mothers, until their bodies wear out and they’re sent down the ramp to their own slaughter just like their mothers before them.”

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”, points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a cow is a dog is a boy. The charity argues that, like humans, other animals are capable of suffering and have interests in leading their own lives; therefore, they are not ours to use for experimentation, food, clothing, entertainment or any other reason.

PETA and its affiliates around the world says it seeks to educate policymakers and the public about cruelty to animals and promote an understanding of the right of all animals to be treated with respect.

It works through public education, research, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement and protest campaigns. PETA believes in non-violence and does not advocate or support actions in which anyone, human or non-human, is harmed.

Bearskin

One of PETA’s other current campaigns is aimed at persuading the Ministry of Defence to stop members of the King’s Guards from wearing tall bearskin fur headwear as part of their uniform.

The actor Stephen Fry narrates a video on the subject that can be seen on PETA’s website, PETA.org.uk.

Fry states: “In Canada, black bears are mercilessly killed by trophy hunters. Their fur may then be used to make the caps worn by the King’s Guard – purely ornamental headgear that serves no military purpose.

“A PETA US investigator went undercover in the Canadian province of Ontario, where hunters buy tags that give them licence to slaughter bears using guns or crossbows.

“The bears are baited with buckets filled with bagels, biscuits and oil, making them easy targets. Bears who are shot don’t always die outright. They may flee and endure a slow, painful death from infection or blood loss, only to be found hours later after the hunters follow their bloody trail. “Once located, the bears are disembowelled and dismembered. Their body parts are often kept as trophies. The bear’s fur is prized, so hunters may sell it to auction houses where it can be purchased by suppliers. It takes the skin of at least one bear to make a single cap.

“By continuing to purchase caps made of black bear fur, the UK Government drives demand for pelts and effectively incentivises hunters to bait and kill bears.

“A faux bear fur has been developed that meets all criteria outlined by the Ministry of Defence and performs better than bearskin in a number of areas. Yet the MoD refuses to make the switch.

“Every day that our soldiers wear hats made from the fur of slaughtered bears brings dishonour to our country. It’s time for a changing of the guard: tell the MoD to go fur free.”

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