Dairy is a lie: My story from an Italian mozzarella farm

Calves starved to death, mothers torn from their newborns… Matteo Cupi, Animal Equality’s Vice President in Europe, witnessed it all inside an Italian mozzarella farm. Here’s how the global dairy industry operates–and why you deserve the truth.

Buffalo calves, thin and frail, lay abandoned on a Northern Italian mozzarella farm.

Their ribs pressed against their skin, and they were too weak to stand. Some had already collapsed, their bodies motionless on the concrete floor. 

Born male and unable to produce milk, they were considered useless to the dairy industry. 

Rather than sending them to slaughter, the farm left them to starve to death. 

Within hours of birth, these calves were torn from their mothers by careless workers and discarded like lifeless objects. Some were flung onto farming equipment, crying out for the mothers they would never know.

I witnessed much of this firsthand during Animal Equality’s 2010 investigation. 

Seeing dead animals scattered across the farm was one of the most shocking moments of the investigation. Their bodies were left out in the open, decaying and impossible to miss.

One of my colleagues found a calf buried under straw and feces–a clumsy attempt to hide the cruelty. 

The picturesque image of mozzarella farms is a lie. 

But this is much bigger than one farm–or even one country.  

Earlier this month, Animal Equality released an investigation into India’s dairy industry. Here, they found the same disregard for life. 

It’s woven into the very fabric of the dairy industry, even reaching your local U.S. supermarket.

It’s behind every carton of milk, block of cheese, or cup of yogurt. The only way to stop this cycle is to replace these products with plant-based alternatives.

I’ve made that choice. Will you join me?

DEFEND MOTHERHOOD

 A cow’s maternal instincts foster a gentle bond with her vulnerable calf.

Preserve this tender relationship by choosing plant‑based alternatives to dairy products.

These images will stay with me forever–the helpless calves, sentenced from birth, their bodies left to waste away. But together, we can rewrite the story…

Those calves didn’t have a choice, but you do. 

How will you protect the animals of the future?

Donate monthly. Protect every day.

September is Farmed Animals Awareness Month! Pigs, cows, and chickens suffer from unimaginable abuse and cruelty at the hands of the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Help rewrite the future for animals trapped in factory farms by becoming a monthly donor.

Matteo Cupi

Vice President for Europe