Because her capacity to produce surpasses her ability to
metabolizeherfeed,thecowbeginstobreakdownanduse
her own body tissues; she begins “milking off her own
back.”^107
Dairy cows are sensitive animals who manifest both
psychologicaland physiologicaldisturbances asa result of
stress. They have a strong need to identify with their
“caretakers.” Today’s system of dairy productiondoes not
allowthe farmer morethan fiveminutes a day with each
animal. In an article entitled “Dairy
FarmsThatDon’tNeedPastures,”one ofthelargest“milk
factories”boastsofan advancethat “allowsone workerto
feed 800 calvesin 45 minutes—a jobthatordinarily might
take several men all day.”^108
Nowtherushisontofindwaysofinterferingwiththecow’s
natural hormonal and reproductive processes to make her
producestillmoremilk.Bovinegrowthhormone(knownin
EuropeasbovinesomatotropinorBST)isbeingtoutedasa
wayofdramaticallyincreasingmilkyields.Cowsgivendaily
injectionsofthehormonehavebeenshowntoproduceabout
20 percentmoremilk.Butinadditiontothesorenesslikelyto
developfromthedailyinjections,thecows’bodies willbe
madeto workharderstill;theywillrequirean evenricher
diet, and they can be expected to suffer still more from
illnesses that already affect dairy cows in large numbers.
David Kronfeld, professor of nutrition and chief of large
animalmedicineattheUniversityofPennsylvaniaSchoolof
VeterinaryMedicine,hassaidthatinonetrialoverhalfofthe
cows given BST were treated for mastitis (a painful
inflammationofthemammarygland)comparedtononeina
controlgroupreceivingnoBST.^109 OppositiontoBSTisnow