PETA article from Contra Costa Times

[Guest guest]

It made the front page! Where it was continued on the

back page, they have a photo of cows in a pen, with

one of them on top of a large pile of manure. They

don't look terrible happy.

 

Dianne

 

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/3165667.htm

 

Cows are not that happy, rights group says PETA calls

it false advertising in campaign to promote state

cheese

 

By Janet Adamy

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

 

Happy cows? They're pulling your udder.

 

That's what an animal rights group is arguing as it

tries to halt a humorous California cheese advertising

campaign.

 

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to

ask the Federal Trade Commission today to block the

California Milk Advisory Board's campaign that depicts

cows grazing in lush pastures and exchanging witty

banter.

 

PETA says the ads, which state that " Great cheese

comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from

California, " constitutes false advertising that

misleads consumers. The group claims most cows in the

state live on fields without vegetation or are

confined to cramped quarters, are genetically

manipulated to produce more milk and die at an early

age.

 

" To say that they're happy, it couldn't be further

from the truth, " said Bruce Friedrich of PETA. " If it

weren't so pathetic for the animals involved, it

would be funny that they are so totally

misrepresenting reality for these animals. "

 

The California Milk Advisory Board, the marketing

group that spends $33 million a year to promote the

state's dairy products, would not comment on the

complaint. But a representative said that cow comfort

is a top priority.

 

Many of the state's 1.5 million dairy cows graze on

open land, have temperature-controlled stalls and

are monitored to notify farmers of changes in their

health -- amenities that make them some of the

nation's top-producing cows.

 

" If the dairy farmers were mistreating the cows, they

would not be producing a lot of milk, " said Nancy

Fletcher, the group's vice president of

communications, adding she had not seen the complaint.

 

The milk board, which has offices in San Francisco,

launched the ads 18 months ago. The campaign includes

more than six television commercials, radio

advertisements and billboards.

 

In one, a California cow greets a new cow from back

East. He tells him how the " babes " look different

in California because " they just really take care of

them. "

 

PETA says the health of the cows is not what's making

them so productive -- it's the growth hormones and

intensive milking regimes that do it. Instead of

rolling pastures, cows are kept on dirt or concrete

covered in urine and feces. These conditions cause

them to suffer from bacterial infections, low calcium,

weight loss and diarrhea.

 

The group also claims that the average cow dies at age

4, while its life expectancy is 20 years.

 

The milk board's Fletcher would not comment on all of

PETA's allegations but said dairy farmers work with

nutritionists to ensure cows are properly cared for.

She said the ads feature real cows and were filmed on

California dairy farms (the footage is technologically

enhanced to make it look like they're speaking).

 

California is the second-largest cheese-producing

state in the country; last year, it made 1.6 billion

pounds of cheese.

 

Susan Silber isn't surprised the ads are under fire.

The 32-year-old San Francisco resident was part of a

focus group that screened the campaign before it

began. She said she and about three others in the

10-person group spoke up and said cow conditions made

the campaign false advertising.

 

" In the back of my mind, I thought there's just no way

they're going to choose that, " Silber said. " People

are not going to buy it. "

 

Ignazio Vella, chief executive officer of Vella Cheese

Co. in Sonoma, said he thought the ads were meant to

be humorous and not taken literally. Even so, cow

farmers have little incentive to mistreat their herds.

 

" I've known farmers that knew all of their string of

cows by name, " Vella said. " These are investments.

It's like going out and kicking your car. "

 

 

 

 

 

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