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MILK


In the UK we drink some 1.5 million litres of milk a year but may give little thought to the cows who produce it. Farmer Rosamund Young has written a book entitled The Secret Life of Cows. In this she recounts how cows have personalities. They form friendships, discuss the weather, introduce themselves to newcomers and can hold grudges, lose their temper and grieve over the death of friends and relatives. 


This latter trait is particularly concerning when we discover that in order to produce milk cows  must have calves and are therefore serially pregnant. When they give birth female calves are kept by the farmer as future milk producers. However, according to BBC Countryfile, the young bulls are of less worth and some 10,000 a year are shot soon after birth.