A recent report asserts that India’s dairy industry is fundamentally built on a cycle of ‘reproduction, extraction, and disposal.’ The document provides a comprehensive overview of the national dairy sector’s lifecycle, explicitly detailing its operational links with the beef and leather industries.
The analysis, titled ‘The Indian Dairy Truth Report,’ was published in February by a team of animal rights activists led by Shivam Nandi at Voice of Vegans. The research primarily utilizes publicly available data, government sources, and documented industry practices, supplemented by some primary reporting.
The report directly challenges the prevalent myth of ‘Ahimsa milk’ in India. ‘Ahimsa,’ meaning harm avoidance, is a term used to describe milk supposedly sourced from cows that are not forcibly impregnated, separated from calves, or slaughtered. The report identifies these very practices as standard throughout the animal farming industry.
Since lactation requires pregnancy, cows are forcibly impregnated repeatedly. Their calves are subsequently separated to divert milk for commercial sale. The cows themselves are eventually sold, abandoned, or sent to slaughter once their productive capacity declines.
The report further notes that India lacks a single national law banning cow slaughter. Regional prohibitions primarily apply to indigenous cow breeds, leaving a significant portion of the bovine population unprotected. Buffaloes, crossbred cows, and mithuns constitute over 53 percent of India’s total bovine population and contribute more than 73 percent of its milk, with their slaughter being largely legal.
India’s meat industry is notably the world’s single largest exporter of beef. The 2023 documentary film ‘Maa Ka Doodh,’ created by doctor-turned-activist Harsha Atmakuri, also explores the disconnect between perception and reality regarding beef and dairy in India. Atmakuri has described them as ‘two sides of the same coin.’
‘One cannot exist without the other,’ Atmakuri stated, emphasizing that the beef industry in India is intrinsically dependent on the dairy sector. The report underscores that the massive dairy infrastructure, supporting over 300 million cattle and buffaloes, provides the foundational supply chain for related meat and leather trades.
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