Jenny MoxhamCows Give Us Milk
By Jenny Moxham
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

All of God's creatures have rights, a fact that most people don't seem to recognize. This includes both human and non-human animals, but not all of them can speak for themselves.


Cows Give Us Milk
By Jenny Moxham

"Cows give us milk" how often do we hear that little phrase,
It sounds so inoffensive, don't you think?
It simply wouldn't sound as nice to say "we steal the milk
That's intended for a new born calf to drink".

And it wouldn't do to say that cows are forced to have a baby,
Not one baby but a baby every year,
For a cow, like any lady, has to have a little baby
Or her milk supply will simply disappear.

And it wouldn't seem so civilized to publicize the fact
That the tiny babe is snatched away and killed,
So the milk designed to feed him can be cleverly extracted
Just so human folk can have their tummies filled.

So this oft repeated phrase makes the dairy people happy,
Those who drink the milk are happy, and it seems a happy scene,
But the cow with udder swollen, and her new born baby stolen
Is the sad and tragic victim of this industry obscene.

One million bobby calves are killed each year in Australia. The mother cow is forced to produce about ten times as much milk as nature intended and is killed at about 7 years of age. Her natural life-span would be about 20 years.

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