“This Broke My Heart” – Actress Miriam Margolyes About The Dairy Industry
From a young age, we’re led to believe that dairy is a harmless by-product. But when award-winning actress, Miriam Margolyes, realised what really happens on dairy farms across Britain, she felt compelled to take action.
Just like humans, cows must give birth to produce milk. That means that every single one of the 2.6 million cows who are killed in the UK each year for their meat and milk will endure the same gruelling existence.
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE UK DAIRY INDUSTRY:
Investigation: Cruelty to Cows – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzsCI...
Investigation: Organic Dairy Farm – https://youtu.be/XsPXNFPrj6M
The Dairy Industry in 360 Degrees – https://youtu.be/II-J7Tw2Msc
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Learn more about Animal Equality's work to end cruelty to farmed animals: https://go.animalequality.org.uk/youtube
Follow us on social media:
http://facebook.com/animalequalityuk
http://instagram.com/animalequalityuk
http://twitter.com/animal_equality
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Transcript (English — en-GB)
Hello, everybody.
It's Miriam Margolyes here.
Like all of you,
I really care about animals
but I didn't know the horrors
of the dairy industry
until just recently.
Today, I want to tell you about something
I've just learned that
I hadn't heard
anyone talk about until recently.
I feel as if it's been hidden from me
my whole life.
I care about animals.
I'm sure you do, too.
So I was shocked to find out what happens
to female cows in the dairy industry.
I never thought about the fact
that in order to produce
milk, cows have to have babies.
Seems so obvious when you say it,
but what it actually means for animals,
it hadn't occurred to me.
For a cow on a dairy farm
it means she's forcibly impregnated
over and over again.
Each time, her baby is taken away
all so that the milk meant for that
baby can be bottled and sold.
I was really upset
when I found out the truth
about this exploitation.
Watching Animal Equality's footage
from a UK dairy farm
I was astonished
when I saw such suffering.
I know what it's like to have
a strong bond with your mother
and animals have that bond too.
Mother cows and their babies
have a special connection.
It hurts them to be separated. But that's
what happens every single day
in the dairy industry.
Newborn calves
are torn away from their mums
just hours after birth.
The distress this causes
them is heartbreaking to watch.
Mothers will cry out for
their babies for days on end
But there is something
we can do to help them.
By thinking more carefully
about the products we buy,
and choosing plant-based food more often,
we can help cows and their babies.
We can encourage farmers to transition
away from the dairy industry.
Helping them to switch
to growing sustainable crops
that can be made into plant-based milk
alternatives.
We must make this harsh world kinder.
And I believe and I hope that together
we can do just that.