dairy cows

Haunting words & photography from
Tamara Kenneally
on Dairy Cows
(yes, milk, cheese, butter)

With their engorged udders and empty stomachs, they ambled towards us in hope. In hope of food. In hope of help.

With their engorged udders and empty stomachs,
they ambled towards us in hope.
In hope of food.
In hope of help.
Once an animal gets to an abattoir,
as these dairy cows were,
there is very rarely a way out.

This is the furthest paddock away from
the actually abattoir building.

Over 700 dairy cows and unwanted cattle
are slaughtered daily here.
They are turned into hamburger meat.
If you are in America and ate a Burger King burger today,
these are the girls you probably ate.

Cows are not magic milk machines.
They must be impregnated to produce milk.
The thought of an entire industry based on
the lactation of females makes me shudder.

It's not just wrong, it's just plain creepy.

There was no way out for these beautiful girls.
Their cries of helplessness and fear were palpable.
They waited surrounded by a sense of doom.
As we walked away in tears,
all we could hope for was that their deaths be quick
and soon.

The unwanted. The unprofitable. Here is where they stand at the end of the line. After they've produced milk for human consumption and offspring for the meat industry, they are no longer profitable.