Actress Richa Moorjani on the Global Dairy Industry
Actress and activist Richa Moorjani joins Animal Equality in exposing the reality behind every glass of milk and dairy product.
Richa harnesses the power of investigations to shed light on the dairy industry with newly-released footage captured during an Animal Equality investigation in India. As the world's largest producer of dairy products, this glimpse inside India’s dairy farms and markets shows a bigger picture of an industry that causes significant suffering to cows and buffaloes around the globe.
➡️ Read the full details of this investigation: animalequality.org/campaign/dairy/richa-moorjani
Animals—like cows, pigs and chickens—in India are not the only ones suffering for human consumption. This abuse is happening globally just to produce meat, dairy and eggs and fill the wallets of the meat industry.
In her powerful message, Richa tells the story of a pregnant cow left in agony after her baby tragically died inside of her on a UK farm. And she tells the stories of calves frozen to death, their hooves separated from their legs, on a farm in Nebraska, USA, which supplies the well-known Babybel brand.
Animal cruelty is systemic in the meat and dairy industries. The only way we can end these unnecessary and unsustainable practices is to choose plant-based alternatives! ➡ You can make a powerful choice every day that tells this industry you will not support the exploitation of animals: loveveg.com.
Featured in
Transcript (English — en-x-autogen)
Hi, I'm Richa Moorjani, actress, producer, and activist.
I'm speaking today on behalf of Animal Equality to share something that is very
important to me. It's what the dairy industry doesn't want you to know or see.
As a vegan and animal advocate,
I warn you that what you are about to see is shocking,
but this is the everyday unfathomable reality for millions of cows and other
animals used for dairy. Today,
I'm urging you to not ignore the cruel or disturbing reality behind every glass
of milk or dairy product. Throughout 2021 and 2022,
Animal Equality conducted an extensive undercover investigation into India's
dairy industry. 27 farms,
six markets and two slaughterhouse were investigated throughout numerous states
in India. The states of Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Telangana, and West Bengal.
Buffalos, cows and calves were filmed being beaten by workers with sticks and ropes.
The workers often hit kick, pull, and twist their tails.
Cows and buffalos are tightly tethered and forced to stand in their own waste
and lay on the hard ground. Like humans,
cows and buffalos produce milk only after giving birth to feed and nourish their
babies.
In the town of Narsinghi, Animal Equality investigators discovered that male calves
are either sold for slaughter a few days after being born or left to die because
they aren't profitable to farmers.
This is a standard practice in the global dairy industry.
Mother cows and buffalos often stop producing milk when they are separated from
their calves. To continue taking milk from these mothers, workers stuff
calf carcasses with hay,
trying to make the animals believe they need to continue
nursing. Workers also inject the animals with oxytocin,
a hormone that stimulates milk production.
Oxytocin has harmful effects on the animals and on those who consume dairy
products laced with it. These acts are illegal
under India's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. On this farm in Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad,
a farm worker confesses that they also use drugs to stimulate milk production.
In Bahadurpura, Hyderabad the dairy owner openly admitted administering Oxytocin to animals
even though it is banned.
Almost half of India's dairies still use it.
Investigators travel to six markets in four states where cows,
buffalos and unwanted calves are sold for slaughter.
Weak and dehydrated animals are forced onto trucks by workers who whip and
beat them.
Children working at these markets were seen imitating this treatment,
including the practice of painfully handling the genitals of the buffalos.
Following our investigation of a dairy farm near the city of Kolkata,
the Animal Welfare Board of India recommended criminal charges for workers,
caught ramming sticks into a buffalo and pouring water over her nose and mouth
to make her feel as though she was drowning.
While India has several laws protecting animals, their enforcement is rare,
and these offenses usually remain unpunished.
India produces almost 20% of the world's dairy.
According to a study by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection
Organizations,
almost 60% comes from animals suffering from injuries or illnesses.
But this investigation is simply a glimpse into a larger reality where millions
of animals suffer for dairy - suffering that Animal Equality has documented
extensively around the world. At a U.K. dairy farm,
Animal Equality investigators captured gruesome footage of cows being kicked and
punched in the face, and found a pregnant cow who was left to suffer after her
baby died inside of her.
The images shocked millions after airing on the BBC this February.
As reported by U.K. magazine The Grocer, shoppers ditched dairy
after the expose. In Mexico,
investigators documented dairy cows crying out in pain as they were dehorned
and tail-docked without anesthesia. Sick, injured, and dying
animals were also left to die without veterinary care. In the U.S.,
Animal Equality investigators found calves frozen to death at a dairy farm in
Nebraska that supplies Babybel.
As temperatures dipped well below freezing, the hooves of baby cows separated
from their legs. As if this cruelty wasn't enough,
workers were filmed hitting calves and performing painful procedures like
castration without anesthesia.
The findings from these investigations are beyond heartbreaking.
The egregious and unspeakable ways in which these innocent and silenced beings
are treated just for human consumption shouldn't be tolerated anywhere in this
world. Cows and buffalos are sensitive, intelligent,
and highly emotional beings who feel pain, fear, and grief just like we do.
Unfortunately,
most of us are intentionally hidden from the horrific reality and truth behind
the dairy industry. I've been vegan now for three years,
and after my eyes were open to the reality
it's been a humbling and transformational journey.
I feel much better about the things I eat,
where and consume, knowing that by making conscious choices
I am not contributing to the suffering of animals anymore. Like me,
you have the ultimate power to choose what you consume and what makes sense for
you. Even if going fully vegan isn't practical for you right now.
Every plant-based meal that you make or buy goes a long way.
Every individual action has an impact, and collectively,
we can send a powerful message to the industries that exploit and inflict pain
for profit.
By eliminating dairy from your diet as much as possible and switching to
plant-based alternatives,
you are helping to end the unimaginable and unsustainable practices behind the
dairy and meat industries.
Please join me in leaving animals off your plate and visit loveveg.com for
delicious plant-based recipes.