Viva! National Dairy Day of Action – 1 March 2008

Mothers Want Their Babies Back!

On Saturday March 1 nearly 500 Viva! supporters took to the streets to tell the public about the inherent cruelty of the dairy industry.

 
While people shopped for gifts for their own mothers, we aimed to open their eyes to the plight of Britain’s hardest working mother – the dairy cow.  Demos took place in many UK towns and cities, with some supporters dressing up as cows to get their message across. Brandishing posters stating ‘Mothers Want Their Babies Back!’ they helped to enlighten the public about the hidden horrors of dairy. Some supporters chose to door drop our striking new leaflets – another excellent way of getting the message across.

 
The response from the public was amazing, with many people expressing surprise and disgust when they discovered the facts. We’ve also had lots of requests for dairy-free packs here at Viva! – a direct result of all your hard work. Thank you.

 
“The reaction from the public was largely as expected- very few people are aware that calves have to be removed from their mothers in order to produce milk for humans - most were surprised and many were shocked”, said Annette White from NE Essex Vegans.

 
“We distributed hundreds of leaflets and talked to people about the healthy alternatives to dairy- some seemed interested and others simply incredulous that we don't actually need to steal the milk of another species to stay healthy”.

 
Judi Hewitt from North Wales Animal Rights was also delighted by the public’s response: “I was amazed that quite a few who took our leaflets decided they were going to try becoming vegan. Most were young people in their teens and early twenties. Though a couple of elderly people said that although they were already vegetarian, they never realised the suffering involved in dairy farming and so would avoid dairy in future.

 
“I told them that by giving up dairy products they would certainly go some way to improving their own health. I also them gave them one of your excellent booklets to help them make the switch. We had a good day and we enjoyed ourselves.”

 
If you didn’t manage to take part on the day you can still order leaflets to door drop by emailing me at amy@viva.org.uk.

 
Many thanks to all of our supporters. More and more people are going dairy free and we really are making a difference. We couldn’t do it without you.