Author: Sandra Kyle
Cows understand ‘Cow’, Pigs understand ‘Pig’
End Animal Slaughter editor Sandra Kyle states the obvious: Animals understand what others of their species are saying to them. And just as with us, some are artists!
I do regular slaughterhouse vigils locally here in Whanganui, New Zealand. Like most other people, I find them hard, and in the nearly eight years I’ve been doing them it hasn’t got one jot easier.
Yesterday at one of the slaughterhouses, that kills cows and pigs, I witnessed and recorded the sad bellowing, lowing, and mooing of 100 or so cows trapped in holding pens. What I understood was that the animals were communicating their distress and frustration. But to the other cows their communications had specific means. The reason for this, to state, the obvious, is ‘Cows understand Cow.’
And of course Pigs also understand ‘Pig’. I witnessed as a truckload arrived under the cover of darkness, and their screams can clearly be heard on my video. Researchers have found that these smart animals have plenty to say, and that in their squeals, grunts and oinks there are significant codes. In an outdoor setting these codes may mean asking and telling other pigs where they are, or where food sources can be located, or to signal where there’s danger, to name just a few. The screams I hear at the slaughterhouse as the pigs are forced off the truck into pens are no doubt alerts, warnings, angry or fearful responses – and possibly even reassurances. ‘It’ll be OK guys, let’s just stick together.’
Pigs are so similar to us physiologically that we can have their hearts, albeit modified, transplanted inside our body. It breaks my own heart that up to 60% of pigs in my country, New Zealand, are forced to live their lives in smelly indoor hovels, standing in their own sh^t, without any bedding or stimulation to be found in their tiny, barren, concrete pens for the duration of their short, abused lives. Mother pigs have the worst lives of all, confined here and all over the world in sow crates and farrowing crates where they cannot even turn around, and are helpless to go to the assistance of a sick baby, or to build a nest for them.
I have seen this nest-building instinct for myself. A few months ago I rescued three pigs from slaughter, and kept them on my property until they could be rehomed. Although it was summer, the weather can suddenly turn bad. One day black clouds rolled over ahead and it began to bucket down. I ran out to see what I could do, and observed Hope, the only female, going to where I had put hay bales, and starting to pull them apart. When my three piggies started to burrow into the hay I realised Hope had built a shelter from the rain for her and her brothers.
Male pigs also build nests. A friend who lives in Victoria, Australia, tells me that his Sunny Boy spends hours crawling through junk to collect objects for his nest, and ‘goes nuts’ at his humans if they try to touch it. I guess that’s the artistic temperament! Gary told me that his nest is 100% Sunny’s artwork, with the treasures he has found deliberately placed in various juxtapositions around where he lies. Gary has seen him carefully contemplating what’s worthy of his art installation, and the decision is never easy. Life choices and self expression are important to Sunny, according to Gary, and are his biggest traits. Sometimes Sunny builds a ‘wall’ in front of him when he is sleeping, a way to keep him safe while he snoozes. Obviously he has nothing to fear, but an animal’s instincts are strong.
I will continue doing my vigils until every slaughterhouse in my country has closed down for good. This will only happen when people stop paying farmers and slaughterhouse workers to do their work. I will continue until these consumers make the decision to adopt a healthy, sustainable, compassionate vegan diet.
Good luck to me.
The feature photo is of Hope. The photo below is of the Gary’s artistic Sunny Boy.
‘1803’. A Short Story By Lily Carrington
A dairy mother watches helplessly as her calf is taken away from her and killed.
I do not have a name. I have a number. 1803.
My black and white hide quickly becomes sodden as the taunting rain explodes like a million tears falling to earth. I stand by the heavy gate, my hooves unsteady in the mud, long lashes blinking in the rain. My heart pounds in my chest and my breath comes in harsh gasps.
I hid him this time, his newborn body disappearing easily in the long grass by the shrubs. But they found him of course, and took him away like last time. They think I am stupid but I remember.
“Get in there, you little piece of sh*t!” A male voice rises above the repeated crying of my baby from across the yard. A black bird flees from near the lean to where my one was dragged. Two bodies still lay outside the wonky structure from the day before. The dark coloured puddle that appeared around them has long washed away. I remember the sudden air splitting noise, one piercing crack followed by another, and seeing the two little bodies fall, one struggling on the ground for a while till they both went still.
A rough thumping then a squeal of pain sound from across the yard and another wave of anguish washes through me. A large tear escapes from one of my big brown eyes and mingles with the rain on my face.
“Stop your whining,” the voice continues. “you’re useless, you know that? No good for nothing”. My large soft ears twitch towards the sound. I know the voice. My whole self recoils from it. He has my baby, that human. I can just glimpse into the corner of the lean to where my baby stands on wobbly legs, shaking and looking around, confused. The man stands looking down at him and takes something black and solid from his jacket. I pace back and forth by the gate.
The man has stopped talking. I see him holding the black object to my baby’s head. He takes it away a fraction, looking at the gun then the tiny, weak calf in front of him and back to the gun again. He seems to hesitate, his brow furrowed. Then he shakes his head and roughly pushes my baby out of view, muttering something under his breath. I hear my calf start crying out again, high pitched, scared, cries. Calling for his mother.
I push against the gate again, but it doesn’t give. I try the fence but the strange pain flashes through my body like I knew it would and I pull back abruptly. I pace again, the blood from labour now mixed with mud on my hind legs and my udder hanging heavy with milk ready for my calf.
A gunshot sounds. My babies crying stops. I let out a long, mournful cry, then let my head hang and do not move for a long time.
See also:
Lily Carrington is a dedicated animal rights activist who is driven by a strong sense of justice for all beings. She is fighting for a world where all non human animals are granted respect, compassion and freedom. Lily lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, with her Mum and 10 companion animals, and has recently graduated from school.
“Let’s Create A New World Together” – VEGAN VOICES writer, heart activist and storyteller, Gwenna Hunter
Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES – Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Gwenna Hunter.
Gwenna is the creator of LA, Vegans for Black Lives Matter, and Health Campaign. She also manages several Vegan Food Aid programs for Vegan Outreach, working with organizations such as Black Women for Wellness, Black Lives Matter LA, Black Women Farmers of LA, and the LGBT Center South. In addition, Gwenna is involved with the Animal Save Movement; she manages the Mutual Food Aid program, working with the Downtown Crenshaw Coalition, and the Los Angeles Health Save Campaign. Gwenna has resided in Los Angeles since July 4, 2014, having previously lived in Cleverland, Miami, Charlotte, Texas, and Atlanta.
Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:
“We are all born sovereign. Rights are not to be taken or given. You are here to stand in your power. You are the solution. You are the bringer of light. You are the good news…. One of the most powerful forms you can take on is that of an activist. You can help activate and awaken people’s hearts and transform their minds… You were born for this. We are activists and are here to help transform and heal the world… We may fuss and fight, but we cannot do this work without love. Remember who you are and why you are here. Let’s create a new world together.”
Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:
“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”
Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0
New Zealand Government Fails To See The Writing On The Wall For Animal Agriculture
The Code of Welfare review for dairy cows is currently taking place in New Zealand. The proposed Code includes cows must be provided with well-drained compressible surfaces to lie on, and calves must never be born in mud (as now commonly happens in winter grazing). The new proposals also give bobby calves another few days of life, with transport to slaughter being increased from a minimum of 4, to a minimum of 7 days. There are also new rules about providing shelter against the weather (eg heat and rain), which has also been a very long time coming.
But the New Zealand government is merely spitting in the wind. It lacks the insight to see the writing on the wall for dairying.
See also:
https://www.livekindly.co/dairy-industry-collapsing/
https://www.livekindly.co/dairy-industry-disappear-decade/
https://foodrevolution.org/blog/problems-with-dairy/
https://join.waterbear.com/milked (free documentary film on dairying)
The rise of plant-based milk, precision fermentation, and increased awareness about animals sentience and animal rights all point to the end of dairying in much of the western world within the next decade. What’s more, signs are that not only dairying, but all of animal agriculture, is a sunset industry.
Read the article about the proposed welfare codes
Sign the petition
Guide to going vegan
A Momentous Time To Be Living Through – VEGAN VOICES writer Sandra Isobel Kyle
Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES – Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Sandra Isobel Kyle.
A vegan since 2010, Sandra lives in Whanganui, New Zealand, and has been a writer and activist for animal rights since the 1990s. Her book ‘Glass Walls’ and her website endanimalslaughter.org call for all slaughterhouses in New Zealand to close by 2025. Sandra produced and presented the animal rights radio show ‘Safe and Sound’ for four and a half years. She is a former Country Liaison for the Save Movement in New Zealand, and a short film, ‘2025’, was made about her solitary slaughterhouse vigils. In 2018 Sandra received the Philip Wollen Animal Welfare Award. Dubbed by the mainstream media as “The Singing Vegan” she was nominated in 2021 for the Assisi Award, named after the patron saint of animals, St Francis of Assisi.
Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:
“In the town I am currently living in, there are two slaughterhouses, which I visit once or twice a week, often by myself. One is for sheep, lambs, and bobby calves, the other for cows and pigs. If I’m lucky, the truck arriving at the sheep and bobby slaughterhouse has to stop at the gates to let another vehicle out, and I can have a few moments with the animals. The frightened, bewildered eyes of the babies relax a little as I stroke their noses and ears, speak softly, play music, or sing to them before they are taken onto the premises and out of sight. The cow and pig slaughterhouse is on a main thoroughfare, and it is possible to have a good view of the animals arriving and being unloaded into holding pens. Anyone who has heard a pig cry knows how bloodcurdling the sound is – something between a scream and a roar… They cower in the corners of the truck, as workers wave sticks with plastic bags in front of their eyes. As soon as they are locked inside their pens they begin to scream, triggering the cows next door, who bellow and moo plaintively. Standing on my stepladder, I get a good view into the cows’ pens and much is revealed. Their behaviours – mooing, stamping, eye rolling, slumping, head hanging, restlessness – show that they are stressed and depressed, and that inside their body vehicles, superficially so different from our own, they are emotional, sentient beings with the same capacity as our own to feel joy, fear, and pain, and with the same desire not to be killed. Knowing I cannot save them is the worst feeling, but what I can do, I do …
“The vegan revolution is an essential part of the evolution of consciousness that humanity has to undergo in order to solve our problems. It is the first step in creating a nonviolent world. Aided by, among other things, the Internet and rising plant-based protein technologies, just as mountains are eroded by constant wind and precipitation, a tiny minority of animal activists are breaking the iron chains of habit and tradition to create a better, brighter future for all Earthlings. I feel humbled and give thanks that I and my fellow activists have a part to play in this momentous point in history that we are living through.”
Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:
“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”
Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0
My Parents ‘Forced’ Veganism On Me – VEGAN VOICES writer Sarina Farb
Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES – Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Sarina Farb.
Sarina is a Midwest-based science educator, speaker, and justice activist with a passion for making the world a better place for all beings. She is the co-founder of the Climate Diet Solution and was co-host of the 2020 Climate Diet Summit. Born in Kansas and raised vegan, Sarina has a lifetime of experience advocating for veganism, climate justice, and sustainable plant-based living. Currently, she serves on the Plant-Based Network advisory committee and is a member of the American Vegan Society Speakers Bureau. Sarina creates empowering and educational content on her website and her YouTube channel, Born Vegan. A former high-school science teacher with a BA in biochemistry and policy studies, she brings critical thinking, nuance, and ethics into conversations about science and sustainability.
Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:
“From my very earliest memories, my parents didn’t just raise me on a vegan diet. Rather, they laid out a very clear foundation, using age-appropriate reasoning, for what veganism was and why we were vegan. When I was really little, that reasoning was simple, with comments like, “We don’t eat animals because it hurts them,“. and, ‘We don’t drink cow’s milk because it’s meant for baby cows.’ As I got older, the explanations got more sophisticated, and conversations about veganism became regular family discussions. We also discussed our duty as citizens of this planet to speak up about injustices and problems of which we were aware. So around seven years of age, with my knowledge of animal exploitation and the environmental havoc that animal agriculture wreaks on the planet, and my family’s ideals of speaking out against injustice, I felt compelled to share the truth with my friends and peers.”
Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:
“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”
Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0
Calls For A Worldwide Transition To A Plant-Based Diet
We’ve had our head in the sand for too long. Climate change is real and an existential threat. The world moving to a plant-based diet has now become an imperative.
Extract from article:
“Vegan Society Aotearoa spokesperson Claire Insley said humans have six years to make large cuts in emissions or the planet will blow past the 1.5 degrees of warming beyond which there are catastrophic consequences.
She said it was absolutely vital that humans broke their meat habit.”
Read the full article here
How I Became A Voice For The Animals – VEGAN VOICES writer Shweta Borgaonkar
Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES – Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Shweta Borgaonkar.
Shweta is an animal rights activist from Pune, India. At the time of this essay, she is twenty years old, and her mission in life is to create a world where all animals are respected and treated as individuals. She started out volunteering at adoption camps for stray cat sand dogs and joined a vegan activism group at the age of sixteen. She co-organized Pune’s first Animal Libertion March in 2018 and the Pan-India Animal Liberation March in 2019. Shweta has also led training sessions to help activists become better organizers. She co-organized the Pune chapters of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and the Animal Save Movement. Currently, she is doing undergraduate work in the field of commerce and is an aspiring law student.
Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:
“I grew up in a city with not many animals around. Growing up with a lack of interaction with animals, I was scared of them. This changed when Girija, a street dog, came into my life. In the beginning, I used to be so scared of her that I would walk on the edge of the road to avoid being in close proximity to her. But slowly, with her beautiful black eyes and wagging tail, she made my fear go away and became my best friend. This was the first time I had connected with a nonhuman animal so deeply. Something inside of me loved her unconditionally and she loved me back unconditionally.
One day, I went to class and everyone told me that Girija was no more. She had been hit and killed by a vehicle. I was devastated. I somehow controlled my tears in class… but I knew she didn’t deserve to die like this. She deserved a safe home with a loving family. She deserved to live in a world where everyone respected her, where she had access to medical care and food, and where her life was valued. As Girija left my life, she left me with a purpose in life – to create that world for her fellow Earthlings”.
Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:
“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”
Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0
“We’re Preparing For Our First Hen Liberation” – Mother and Daughter Vegan Activists 4 – Tess and Mollie Ford
Next in our series of mother and daughter vegan activists we meet Tess and Mollie Ford.
Tess, as a new vegan, you must have a clear idea of when and why you gave up meat and dairy. Can you tell us about that?
About three years ago my husband James and I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Game Changers”. It was a very convincing documentary mostly coming from a health point of view, and was the first time I discovered that not only was meat not necessary in my diet, but that it could even be causing me harm. More importantly, we have 3 growing girls. We are responsible for what is going into their perfect little bodies. Needless to say, we were convinced. We straight away decided to cut meat out of our diets – literally overnight – and cut down on dairy also. At this point our decision was largely based on health and less on ethical reasoning. However… I was eager to learn more. Over the next couple of years I went about my new vegetarian life, patting myself on the back and proudly declaring my moral highground wherever I went. I remember seeing the Anonymous for the Voiceless group out in central Wellington at one stage and making sure to mention to one of the activists, I was “almost there”. I continued to educate myself with all the vegan documentaries I could find, the first one being “Dominion”. Anyone who has watched this knows how eye-opening it is in terms of how animals are used and abused all over the world. Bizarrely, I didn’t at that point want to make the next step I knew in my heart I needed to. I’m an enthusiastic baker and justified my continued purchase of dairy as necessary, telling myself that what I was doing was enough. Besides, how can anyone possibly bake without eggs/milk/butter?! Yet I kept watching more and learning more about animal cruelty. My new heroes were animal activists: Tash Peterson, Joey Carbstrong, Leah Doellinger, Earthling Ed to name just a few. I remember very clearly, one evening I was sitting in bed watching some hidden camera footage of a farm where mother pigs (sows) were kept. I sat there crying and watching and crying. The switch finally went on in my head. I could no longer participate in/pay for the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse/murder of gentle, trusting, innocent, sentient beings. The 28th of August, 2021 was the first day of being vegan and I know I’ll never look back.
You have not imposed veganism on your children, but Mollie made her own decision to go vegan, is that right?
I have not shied away from showing my girls some footage of what happens to animals, as well as discussing it. I don’t believe it’s okay to lie to kids about something so violent that they unknowingly are too, participating in. When I became vegan I became intensely passionate about it overnight! However, the girls when out and about with friends and absolutely had the choice to continue eating meat or dairy. A few months ago, Mollie, my oldest, who was 12 at the time, just came out and said she was ready to “go vegan”. She had watched and learned enough that she was ready to make that choice. I had made sure to say to the girls, it is a commitment. I didn’t want them to be people who would say they were vegan “most of the time”. In my view, it’s all or nothing. I know that when they say they’re ready, it means they absolutely are.
You and Mollie are now definitely vegan for the animals. What kind of animal rights actions have you done together?
Mollie has come to two vigils with me to a Whanganui slaughterhouse where we have bore witness to animals before they are sent to slaughter. We have also joined Anonymous for the Voiceless in Wellington, and participated in a Cube of Truth together, as well as “Make the Connection” outreaches. In our day-to-day life we do small things whenever we can for the animals. The area we live in has a lot of bush and farmland. When we are out walking, we often stop and spend time talking to and loving on the sheep, horses and cows. We are preparing for our first hen liberation and hope to create a home for them with us. This is just the beginning for us I’m sure!
You must have been proud of Mollie when she told you she wanted to go vegan. What else about Mollie’s advocacy for animals makes you proud?
Mollie has had some kids at school make some ignorant and quite frankly revolting comments over the last few months. I am proud that although she is shy by nature, she has been learning to stick up for herself and her morals in a tactful way. I’m extremely proud of the fact that she is so intentional with her vegan journey. She is diligent with checking the backs of packets at the supermarket and is adventurous with trying new foods! I have an Animal Save hoodie which Mollie proudly wears everywhere. She is an inspiration to me.
Thankyou for your time Tess!
Patting a praying mantis – Mother and Daughter Vegan Activists 3, Summer Aitken and Nova
Next in our series of Mother and Daughter vegan activists, we meet Summer Aitken and her two-year old daughter, Nova.
Summer, can you outline your journey towards veganism/animal rights?
I grew up in a small rural community on a lifestyle block and was indoctrinated with messages like ‘cows turn grass into milk’ and ‘animals give us meat.’ I was always the child that brought home strays and bottle-fed dozens of lambs for the farmer next door, but due to my upbringing the disconnect was strong and I continued to eat animals well into adulthood.
I worked for a long time in dog rescue and a comment from a rescue colleague was a major turning point in my thinking. She said, “I wonder how many of us who spend hours and hours of every day saving dogs’ lives go home and put the body of some other poor animal in the oven and eat it.”
That really shook me and I stopped eating meat.
Soon afterwards, I was invited to a friend’s dairy farm to feed the calves. While I was there I learned about ‘colostrum cows’ – they had coloured tape around their tails to identify them, and a desperate, grief-stricken look in their eyes. These depressed looking animals who had so recently given birth were marched into the milking shed before the rest of the herd, and their colostrum brought to the calf shed on the back of a tractor trailer. At the calf shed some of the tiny newborns had yellow ear tags and were fed the colostrum from the milking shed, and other calves in separate pens didn’t have ear tags were fed powdered milk replacement. I asked a lot of questions and the answers devastated me. It was around nine years ago now, and I’ve been vegan from that day on.
Activism helps me cope in a non-vegan world. I feel that the least I can do for the animals is actively try to help change things for them.
Activism helps me cope in a non-vegan world. I feel that the least I can do for the animals is actively try to help change things for them.
Nova has been attending animal rights demonstrations and vigils since she was in the womb, and has always been vegan. Tell us why you think veganism is the best diet/lifestyle for her?
As a long-term vegan I’ve done a lot of research on nutrition over the years and I’m confident that a balanced plant based diet is the healthiest way for Nova to eat. She gets all the nutrition she requires for optimal growth and development from whole plant foods and breastmilk. Nova’s been vegan since her conception and is an absolute picture of health – she had an unassisted homebirth, has never had any illnesses, is in the 91st percentile for height, and is ahead of all her developmental milestones.
But veganism is more about ethics to our family. I am teaching Nova compassion for all beings. I want to instil in her that it’s never okay to harm someone else for your own benefit, and that absolutely includes our friends of different species. Veganism comes naturally to small children who would never instinctively hurt an animal, so I believe this lifestyle allows Nova to keep her indiscriminate compassion intact.
Veganism comes naturally to small children who would never instinctively hurt an animal, so I believe this lifestyle allows Nova to keep her indiscriminate compassion intact.
Tell us some stories about your little girl that show her ‘vegan-ness?
When Nova sees cows in a paddock she’ll say, “oh he’s so cute,” just the same as when we see a puppy or a cat. She doesn’t see the separation between pets and farmed animals and ‘pests’. A praying mantis made their way into our kitchen recently and she asked if she could pat him. I thought that was a beautiful example of how she doesn’t discriminate between species.
Nova has been to several slaughterhouse vigils and shows genuine empathy for the animals there. She’s only recently turned two but she understands that we are trying to help them.
She also eats a lot of things that other children her age wouldn’t, including raw tofu, broccoli, mushrooms, and hemp seeds by the spoonful!
What do you hope for Nova in the coming years?
I hope that in the coming years the world will move away from animal agriculture towards plant based food systems, so that Nova and her generation can live in a kinder, more peaceful world.
Through our animal rights activism I hope Nova will learn that it’s important to speak up for what you believe in. I try to show her that advocating for those who are oppressed, exploited, and otherwise less fortunate than ourselves is the right thing to do. I hope she’ll see that even when you stand in the minority, if you stand peacefully on the side of love and non-violence you can make a difference.
Thankyou for your time, Summer.
An Untold Story That Had To Be Told – Director of ‘MILKED’, Amy Taylor
The dairy exposé MILKED is reeling in the awards while the Dairy Industry remains silent… In this article End Animal Slaughter’s Sandra Kyle talks to its inspirational Director, Kiwi filmmaker Amy Taylor.
Amy, you have had enormous success with your latest feature length documentary, ‘MILKED’, that is an expose on the Dairy Industry. We’ll get to that soon, but can you begin by telling us a bit about your background, including where you were born and went to school?
I was born in Christchurch but moved around a lot and then spent 7 years in Whitianga as a child, so it feels like home for me here. I went to Mercury Bay Area School but we moved again when I was 14, and I left school at 15. I didn’t go to university until 10 years later, after travelling and figuring out what I wanted to do. Then I studied marine biology which led to a Bachelor of Applied Science at AUT, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago.
When did you become vegan, and why?
Like most people I was totally addicted to dairy as a child, especially cheese and butter, and although I was vegetarian as a teenager (for ethical reasons, because there wasn’t much science available then about the impacts of animal agriculture on the environment and human health) it took a while for me to learn about the dairy industry. Then I discovered that surplus newborn calves were taken from their mothers and sent to slaughter, and I gave up dairy in my late teens. I also completed a diploma in Naturopathy and had written a thesis about the benefits of a vegan diet, so I was aware of of the health impacts too. It’s interesting that there’s a reason why dairy is so addictive too, it contains casomorphins so it can take a few weeks to get over the cravings. But a few years later while travelling and struggling to find vegan food – luckily things have changed! – I began eating dairy again because I somehow convinced myself it must be ok now, they must have found a way to make it without killing the calves that are seen as a byproduct of the industry. I kept those blinkers on until I had my son and somehow I instantly saw milk for what it is – a product made by mothers for their young – and how wrong it was to be consuming it from another species. Both my son Jai and my husband Mike are vegan also, I think that providing information for them (documentaries for Mike, and vegan-themed kids books and films for Jai) has really helped them understand the reasons for being vegan so they have their own motivation for doing that.
I had my son and somehow I instantly saw milk for what it is – a product made by mothers for their young – and how wrong it was to be consuming it from another species.
Did you always know you wanted to make films? How did you get into the film business?
I had always loved programs like Our World as a child, and when I was studying science at university I realised that I was also drawn to the idea of filmmaking, so I decided to combine both. Once I heard about the Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago I knew that was what I wanted to do. The teachers were world-class (including many from Natural History NZ) and they drilled into us that story was the most important thing. I loved learning about filmmaking, and my student film about Hector’s Dolphins (Beyond the Kelp) was broadcast on Māori TV, which helped give me the confidence to pursue it as a career.
Tell us about the other documentaries you have made.
The first feature documentary I made was about Moko the friendly wild dolphin who had turned up in Whakatane, just down the coast from where I was living in Mount Maunganui. I spent 6 months living in my van down there and filming in the water with Moko every day, it was an incredible experience but it had a tragic ending which is shown in the documentary I made (Soul in the Sea). That film was broadcast here in NZ and was shown in film festivals around the world. It was also nominated for an award at Jackson Wild, a festival known as the nature equivalent to the Oscars, and it was up against National Geographic and the BBC so unfortunately it didn’t win but it was an honour to be nominated. Since then I’ve been a lot busier being a mum so I focused on making short films for a while, including some for RNZ (Pig Man, Captain Aunofo, Apollo: Rise of the Poly-vegan Soldier) and one for Loading Docs (The Cube of Truth) which led me into making MILKED.
Why did you make ‘MILKED’?
The motivation for making this film came from a growing awareness I had about the dairy industry’s impacts on people, the environment, and on animals. I began looking into the dairy industry more and seeing the damage it does to the environment, as well as the water pollution, one of the most obvious being the huge amount of native forests and wetlands that have now been turned into a monoculture of grass and cows that covers a massive amount of the country. When I saw Chris Huriwai’s social media videos about the industry we began talking about the need to do a feature documentary about it, that was in 2018 and I began filming in 2019.
MILKED presents the reality of an industry that has a huge marketing budget to present it’s side of the story, which it does relentlessly and without reflecting the truth. I hope that people will watch the film before deciding for themselves which side of the story they believe. It’s an independent documentary and I spent nearly 3 years working on it because it’s an untold story that had to be told.
I began looking into the dairy industry more and seeing the damage it does to the environment, as well as the water pollution, one of the most obvious being the huge amount of native forests and wetlands that have now been turned into a monoculture of grass and cows that covers a massive amount of the country.
The dairy industry have been mostly very quiet about the film, they seem to be hoping that if they ignore it, it will go away. I’ve seen a lot of comments accusing the film of being fictional and propaganda etc but all of our sources are available on our website (milked.film/facts), and as yet no one has pointed out anything specific that is inaccurate. It’s easy to make general statements to try and damage the credibility of the film (one reviewer did this by calling it ‘deeply flawed’ in the headline, without any real basis for doing so), but it’s obviously not so easy for them to find any actual fault in the research and information we presented. We have had quite a few dairy farmers contact us saying that they’re aware that these issues are real and that we need to be urgently transitioning away from dairy, so it’s not everyone in the industry with their head in the sand.
There are some solutions featured in the film, but basically we want the industry to be honest, the government to help dairy farmers transition, and for consumers to know the truth about what they’re buying.
There are some solutions featured in the film, but basically we want the industry to be honest, the government to help dairy farmers transition, and for consumers to know the truth about what they’re buying.
I felt rather teary when I watched it at the Palmerston North premier, because I was so moved by it. It felt like a game changer to me; so convincing, and so well filmed and edited. I’m positive it is changing hearts and minds all over the world. Don’t tell me you did all the filming and editing yourself on MILKED?? Would you say it was a ‘labour of love’ for a number of years?
I would say it’s the hardest project I’ve ever worked on, that’s for sure! It was a labour of love, but it wasn’t an easy experience. It started off as a very small budget project which meant I had to juggle multiple roles, including producer, director, cinematographer, and sound recordist. I was also researching for the film and working out the story and the animations as well (Cam Orr created the animation). Then I edited a roughcut of the film alongside Annie Collins, before finishing the film with Debbie Matthews (from Farmwatch, she is featured in the film also). There was over 100hrs of interviews to go through, so the edit took a lot longer than the shoot, which was only about 3-4 weeks in total. Covid slowed things down a bit, but I’m happy that the film was made in around 3 years, I found out that Seaspiracy took nearly 6 years and I’m not sure I would have the patience for that length of time!
Tell us about the awards and nominations MILKED has received so far.
MILKED has won the following awards:
- IndieFEST – Best of Show
- Spotlight Documentary Film Awards – Gold Award
- Impact Docs Awards – Best of Show, & Award of Excellence (Women Filmmakers)
- IndieFEST Humanitarian Award – Grand Prize
- Monaco Streaming Film Festival – Best Documentary
MILKED has also been nominated at the 20th Anniversary of Cinema for Peace.
What do you think the future holds for dairying in New Zealand, and worldwide?
I really hope that governments around the world help farmers to transition out of dairy sooner than later. As well as the fact that it’s unhealthy for people, destructive to the environment, and cruel to animals, something that most people aren’t aware of is that real dairy products can now be made without cows, and huge money is going into scaling up this industry – Perfect Day Foods is one example of a company focusing on this. The dairy proteins casein and whey are being produced in fermentation tanks from microbes, instead of in the mammary glands of cows. This precision fermentation process is how the majority of rennet for the dairy industry is already being made, and it’s been predicted to wipe out the global dairy industry in the next 10-15 years. NZ’s milk powder exports will be one of the first to go.
Something that most people aren’t aware of is that real dairy products can now be made without cows, and huge money is going into scaling up this industry – Perfect Day Foods is one example of a company focusing on this.
Finally, are there any other projects you are working on?
I’m planning a film that follows a dairy farm transitioning out of dairy… early stages for now but I’m excited about learning more and documenting it to hopefully help inspire more positive change. I have some other ideas also, but one thing at a time!
We know that you’ll be taking some time in France after the latest awards ceremony to cycle around the French Riviera and meet up with friends. We hope you have a wonderful time! Hopefully, we can catch up with you again on your return.
Thank you Sandra!
