The sacred cow in the dairy house

During our stay in Udaipur we went to animal aid sanctuary where we learnt about the dairy industry in India. As the cow is sacred, I thought and had been told by locals that cows are not treated as they are in Australian dairy factories – they are treated better, milked by hand, not artificially impregnated/hooked up to machines etc. Unfortunately the reality is that cows in Indian dairy practises undergo the same treatment, subject to the same profit based mechanisms that are practised globally. The difference here is that after the cow becomes ‘redundant’ – i.e. it can no longer produce milk, it is not slaughtered for meat but is instead discarded on the streets, left to wonder and fend for itself.

The people of India treat these cows well, often one will see store vendors feeding the cows, but due to the amount of waste in India the cows also live off a diet composed of plastics and rubbish. It is unclear to me whether or not it is better to be left wondering the streets, living perhaps a long life of struggle, or to be slaughtered. However, what is clear, is that profit will win time and time again despite the religious code of a country… and there is always more to the propaganda than meets the eye. No system is perfect. It’s impossible to live a truly ethical life these days. But understanding is always the first step.