This Mother’s Day, Be Kind to All Moms

On Mother’s Day, we celebrate all of the moms and mother figures in our lives who inspire and love us every day.

But many other mothers are forgotten on this special day, billions of suffering. For farm animal moms, there’s not much to celebrate. They face violence, abuse, and a lifetime of suffering.

Cow, pig, and chicken mothers are the foundation of the meat, dairy, and egg industries. On factory farms, they’re systematically exploited for their reproductive capabilities, cut down at a fraction of their natural lifespans, and never given the chance to raise their babies.

Just consider: cow moms on dairy farms are forcibly impregnated over and over again to keep producing milk, only to have their newborn calves taken away almost immediately so their milk can be sold for humans to drink.

Consider the story of Karma, a cow rescued by the compassionate folks at California’s Gentle Barn. When the team picked Karma up, the farmer didn’t tell them that she’d recently given birth. Luckily, they figured it out. Watch the power of this mother cow’s love in this reunion between mama and baby:

Animals have rich emotional lives. They’re intelligent, cognitively sophisticated, and affectionate towards the ones they love. The colloquialism “mother hen” stems from the nurturing maternal instincts of chickens. When given the chance, cow moms and babies will spend their entire lives as a family unit. And pigs — who are as smart as three-year-old children — are doting moms who form strong bonds with their children.

Remember that we have the power to change the world for animal moms, just by leaving them off our plates! The best way to celebrate Mother’s Day is to respect all mothers and choose cruelty-free cuisine. Delicious, plant-based foods don’t lead to shattered families and broken hearts.

So show non-human moms some love, too, and go vegan this Mother’s Day.