New PETA Billboard Highlights Animal Abuse at Land O'Lakes Supplier

Graphic Image of Calf Mired in Waste Gives Commuters Food for Thought 

For Immediate Release:
May 27, 2010

Contact:
Michael Lyubinsky 757-622-7382

St. Cloud, Minn. -- Featuring a photo of a calf mired in filth and the words "Standard Practice at a Land O'Lakes Dairy Farm. Dump Dairy. Go Vegan," a new PETA billboard has just gone up in St. Cloud. The photo is from PETA's undercover investigation of a dairy factory farm that supplies Arden Hills–based Land O'Lakes. The investigation was launched after a whistleblower working at the farm became concerned about conditions there and contacted PETA. PETA is urging consumers to help put an end to the abuse suffered by animals on dairy factory farms by dumping butter, milk, and all other dairy products from their diets and going vegan. The billboard is located on the west side of Route 23, three-quarters of a mile south of the intersection of U.S. Route 10, in St. Cloud.

The undercover footage--which shows sick, exhausted cows struggling to stand and being forced to hobble through a massive buildup of their own waste--reveals how much filth and suffering goes into the production of milk and other dairy products. Many of the cows suffered from painful infections and severe lameness. Sick animals were routinely left to languish and die slow, excruciating deaths while they were in pain and unable to stand--and they were denied even the final kindness of a swift end.

Eating dairy products is also bad for your health. Cow's milk is the number one source of allergies in children, and it has been linked to a variety of health problems, including Type 1 diabetes and cancer. Besides humans (and animal companions who are fed by humans), no species drinks milk beyond infancy or drinks the milk of another species.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.