With around 1.9 million cows living on 13,000 farms, the UK is one of Europe's highest milk producers. 2,000 of these farms are “zero-grazed”, which means the cows are kept permanently inside sheds.
Despite warnings from animal welfare and environmental advocates, the number of intensive dairy farms are increasing in the UK as farmers face increased pressure to maximise production while keeping costs to a minimum.
Campaigners argue that the acceleration of intensive farming is driving climate change, water and air pollution, biodiversity loss, and negatively affecting local communities. Animal rights investigators also say that the dairy industry is depriving cows of their basic needs while misleading consumers into believing that their milk comes from animals able to graze and roam freely. To uphold this myth, dairy farms are often difficult to access, meaning that investigators are only able to document the conditions undercover, typically at night.
This photo series was taken on multiple visits alongside investigators from the advocacy group Viva! to one of the UK’s leading dairy facilities, which supplies a host of Britain’s best-known companies, including McDonald’s, British Airways, and Costa Coffee. This farm is Red Tractor-approved, which is considered the world’s leading assurance for animal welfare.
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Milk leaks from the udder of a cow at an intensive dairy farm in Kent, UK. Due to selective breeding and intensification of herd management, milk yield has more than doubled over the last 40 years.
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An investigator documents the living conditions of the cows at an intensive dairy. Animal rights investigators also say that the dairy industry is depriving cows of their basic needs, while misleading consumers into believing that their milk comes from animals able to graze and roam freely. To uphold this myth, dairy farms are often difficult to access, meaning that investigators are only able to document the conditions undercover, typically at night.
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The milking area of an intensive dairy farm in Kent, UK where cows are hooked up to machines to have several gallons of milk drained from their udders. Due to selective breeding and intensification of herd management, milk yield has more than doubled over the last 40 years.
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A cow stands shackled by her back legs at an intensive dairy farm in the UK. Farmers regularly hobble the hind legs of cows together, supposedly to prevent cows who have suffered muscle or nerve damage during calving from further injuring themselves by doing the splits.
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Antibiotics for the treatment of mastitis - a painful inflammation of the mammary glands, which affects a third of all UK cows used for dairy - and the prevention of bacterial infections of cow udders lie discarded in a bucket at an intensive dairy farm in Kent, UK. Experts have repeatedly warned that the use of antibiotics on farmed animals is extremely dangerous to human health, but the practice remains widespread around the world, with two-thirds of all antibiotics sold for livestock production.
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An investigator strokes the nose of a calf at an intensive dairy farm. Animal rights investigators also say that the dairy industry is depriving cows of their basic needs, while misleading consumers into believing that their milk comes from animals able to graze and roam freely. To uphold this myth, dairy farms are often difficult to access, meaning that investigators are only able to document the conditions undercover, typically at night.
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A newborn calf lies in a crate in the calf section at an intensive dairy farm in Kent, UK. In this industry, the vast majority of calves are separated from their mother only hours or a few days after birth so that the milk intended for them can be sold to humans. Female calves are eventually used as dairy cows themselves, while the males - deemed as a ‘by-product’ of the industry - are either sold for cheap meat or killed.
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Used ear tags found in the office area of the dairy farm. Dairy cows have a natural lifespan of about 20 years but they will be slaughtered before the age of five when their milk production declines.
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The bullet wound of a cow who has been shot in the head lies in the grass behind the sheds where the animals are housed at an intensive dairy farm. The night before, when the investigators first accessed the site, this cow was in considerable distress and unable to walk.
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