Cow’s ‘Dump Dairy’ Plea to Kids: ‘Do I Look Like Your Mother?’

PETA Billboard Near Chicago Elementary Schools Encourages Students to Leave Cow’s Milk for the Calves

For Immediate Release:
September 5, 2017

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

As schoolchildren pour into classrooms this month, PETA has placed a billboard near Chicago elementary schools—the first public school system in the country to accept the federal school milk program—that shows a female cow alongside the words “Do I Look Like Your Mother? Cow’s Milk Is for Calves. Dump Dairy. Go Vegan.” The ad aims to encourage students to choose healthy and delicious nondairy milk during lunchtime instead.

PETA’s billboard is located at 10312 S. Kedzie Ave. in Chicago, facing north, and is close to several elementary schools, including Kolmar, Cassell, Mt. Greenwood, Keller Gifted Magnet, and Southeast. A photo is available here.

“Children have a natural affinity for animals, so they’d be horrified to learn that calves are torn away from their mothers on cruel dairy farms,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s straight-talking billboard is a reminder to growing girls and boys that nondairy milk can help them develop strong bodies and a strong sense of compassion.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that humans are the only species to drink milk beyond infancy and to consume the milk of another species. In today’s dairy industry, calves are taken away from their mothers within days or hours of birth so that their mothers’ milk can be consumed by humans instead. Cows’ sensitive horn tissue is often burned or gouged out of their heads without painkillers. Male calves are often shipped off to be caged and slaughtered for the veal industry, while female calves endure the same fate as their mothers: repeated artificial insemination in order to produce a steady supply of milk until their bodies give out and they’re sent to slaughter.

Studies have shown that cow’s milk has been linked to everything from cancer and heart disease to diabetes and strokes. Fortified soy milk, however, contains high levels of essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, protein, and vitamin B₁₂, with none of the cholesterol, hormones, or cruelty of dairy “products.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.