This is a stunning film of the everyday insensitivity and cruelty suffered by cows. But I fear that someone who doesn't exactly know what they're seeing will not understand the brutality. This is an ordinary dairy farm--not a gigantic factory farm. And the employees shown seem mild-mannered & there is nothing that would be considered overt abuse, like beating the cows. But what you do see is cows bred to have udders so unnaturally and grotesquely large that they can't even walk normally, a calf having her ears punctured and horns burned off with no anesthetic, a cow who is given drugs to restart her cycle right after giving birth, and who burns out years before a normal lifespan for a cow--which is 20-24 years in a healthy setting--and 10-14 in confinement--and this cow only makes it to 6. It is heartbreaking to see her calf taken away almost immediately. The signs of her grief may be too subtle for some to perceive, but they are most certainly there. Perhaps the most misleading thing is the docility of the cows. It is the resignation of prisoners with no hope of escape! Cows have been bred for docility for many generations. Any who show resistance to their captivity are soon culled; only the most docile continue to be bred. It was very painful to actually see this stuff, even though I obviously already knew about a lot of it. I had reduced my dairy consumption by about 95%--now it is absolutely 100%--never again will I eat the products of such suffering.
Review of Cow
