Actress Daniella Monet, who will soon give birth to her first child, recently broke down in a video she posted to Youtube, during which she forced herself to watch two of the recent, highly publicized dairy farm investigations from Animal Recovery Mission (ARM). At the beginning of the video, Monet, a vegan, states that she has avoided watching any videos like this for some time, but feels a responsibility as a soon-to-be mother to use her platform to speak up for the mothers used in the dairy industry. Sensitive viewers should be warned that there are some graphic clips from the investigations in Monet’s video, but most of it is Monet talking about her pregnancy and reacting to the exposés.
Watching footage from ARM’s undercover investigation of an organic dairy farm, Monet weeps as a panicked mother cow in the middle of giving birth tries to run away from the dairy farmer, her slick baby half-protruding from her weakened, laboring body. This mother cow, like all cows exploited for dairy, knows what fate awaits her child. She has done this before. Having been forced to become pregnant and give birth year after year, she has endured having her babies stolen from her over and over again as soon as they enter the world.
As she watches the mother cow’s futile efforts to escape, Monet chokes back tears:
“She just wants to get away and have some safety. I would imagine she doesn’t have a ton of strength in this moment, but she’s using everything she has because she knows she’s not safe if she stays there. [Weeping] I just feel so sad because I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to give birth, how everyone has all these options nowadays, like, “Oh, what’s your birth plan?” and, it’s like, this is the last plan she had in mind, and she just wants to get away and have some safety. He’s [the dairy farmer] gonna put him in the bin and take him away from her.”
As Daniella speaks, the farmer puts the calf in a wheelbarrow and wheels him away while the still-heaving mother watches helplessly from behind the gate that has been closed on her so she cannot follow her baby.
“How can anyone allow this to happen?,” Monet implores, tears streaming down her face. “There are so many people out there that feel like they’re not participating in cruelty because they buy organic dairy. And there’s such a misconception there. This is marketing. The biggest takeaway is to completely understand that there is literally no difference between the two businesses, organic or not organic.”
We are so grateful Daniella used her voice and vulnerability to make this powerful video. If you haven’t already, please ditch dairy. Learn about more of the routine cruelties that happen on even the most “humane” dairy farms, here. Read my coverage of ARM’s Fair Oaks Farms and Fairlife Milk investigation, here. And be sure to check out some of the other powerful reflections from mothers speaking out against dairy on our website.
