Speaking the White Truth - Building a Better World for Dairy and Farm Animals

International animal welfare organisation, World Animal Protection has today submitted a detailed report to the government of Delhi, comprising the learnings and findings from its ‘Better Dairy’ campaign.

The report titled: The White Truth – Better Dairy Campaign Report, has been submitted to the Chief Minister of Delhi, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Minister of Animal Husbandry, along with other corporate stakeholders.

World Animal Protection India started a campaign in 2012 to improve the lives of dairy animals by becoming the voice for these sentient beings.
 

Over the next eight years, the animal welfare organisation studied the root causes of animal suffering and worked tirelessly to raise consumer awareness on the cruelty faced by dairy animals.
 

The India Dairy Campaign Report by World Animal Protection has been released today

India is home to over 299 million cattle¹, 90 million of whom live in urban and peri-urban areas. Every day, an estimated 50 million dairy animals suffer the worst cruelty as they live in unacceptable conditions in these urban and peri-urban dairies.
 

¹ www.nddb.coop/information/stats/pop.
 

They are often confined to large dark rooms without windows or natural light, are permanently tethered with barely any room to move, they lie in their own faeces all day without access to clean water, good quality feed or any healthcare.

In its report, World Animal Protection is making key recommendations for corporates, government and other NGO’s and advocacy organisations to take the work forward and continue to fight for the welfare of farm animals.
 

The recommendations to build back better and move towards a sustainable future for our dairy animals, producers as well as consumers are as follows:

• The ‘National Dairy Code' for better management of cows and buffaloes should be recommended to the dairy industry in the country as well all the state governments. The National Code of Practices for Management of Dairy Animals in India covers all aspects of the industry – from advice on breeding and husbandry, through to guidance on how animals should be fed and housed. Basic hygiene, sanitation and guidance on record keeping are also included.

• Awareness about welfare of dairy animals and how it will lead to a sustainable dairy industry in our country is necessary.

• Since the urbanization is increasing at a rapid rate in Cities, there is minimal chance that dairy animals can perform their natural behaviour in the cities. Hence, we recommend having a plan where dairies can be moved outside the city limits for a sustainable future for our dairy animals, producers as well as consumers.